The lights are intended to slow vehicles down for the safety of schoolchildren.
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

JAY – The school zone flashing lights that reduce speed to 15 miles per hour will remain on Main Street.

Selectmen voted Monday to keep the signs after Police Chief Larry White Sr. and Jay School Superintendent Robert Wall recommended the lights stay.

Town Manager Ruth Marden said she decided to bring the lights to the board’s attention after she was approached several times with requests to remove them.

Once the proposal to remove them was made known last week, however, she said she received several requests to keep them.

White said he spoke to the state Department of Transportation and the District Attorney’s Office about the signs.

To make a better case in court to enforce violations of the 15 miles per hour school zone, the town should put the times the speed limit is in effect, White said.

There are existing signs attached to the lights that indicate the speed limit is in effect when children are present, he said.

That is no longer the law, though, White added.

The speed limit is effective 30 minutes before and after a school opens or closes, White said.

White said the lights have slowed vehicles down for the safety of schoolchildren.

If the signs slow a tractor-trailer down, that’s great, White said.

Wall said that large vehicles need a longer sight distance.

If a speed limit was set at 20 miles per hour, a large vehicle would need a sight distance of 230 feet to be able to stop, he said. If the speed limit is 35 miles per hour, a large vehicle needs 455 feet of sight distance, he said.

Wall also noted that signs slow traffic down when buses are trying to enter or exit the schools.

“All it would take is one accident,” Wall said, “for us to say why did we do it.”

Selectmen voted to change the signs to reflect the times the speed limit would be in effect, which would be from about 7:25 to 9:30 a.m. and from about 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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