Flashing radar speed signs have been installed at eight spots around Española over the last several weeks, in the hope they will encourage speeders to slow down, interim City Manager Joe Duran said.
“We have too many commuters that run through Española and they’re used to going over the speed limit without thinking that they’re coming into a congested area,” Duran said. “At least the sign warns them.”
The eight solar-powered signs were purchased for $85,000. The city paid $21,250 of that cost, Duran said, and a public safety grant from the New Mexico Department of Transportation covered the rest.
The signs were installed where city police have issued the most citations or accident reports, he said.
“Like with (the road to Chimayó), there’s been a lot of accidents with people coming out of the side streets and traffic doesn’t slow down,” Duran said.
Three signs were installed along Fairview Lane. One faces eastbound traffic and another faces westbound traffic between North Paseo de Oñate and North Riverside Drive, near Angelina’s restaurant.
Because Fairview can be difficult to cross during peak hours, City Council asked the state Highway Department to install traffic lights where Railroad Avenue meets Fairview. The Department performed a traffic study of the intersection last June and determined that traffic lights weren’t warranted. The city requested a second study, this time to be completed when Northern New Mexico College is in session. Duran said that study won’t likely happen before classes finish on May 10.
Traffic from Railroad Avenue needs to be able to safely turn left onto Fairview Lane, where the speed limit is 45 mph, Duran said, adding that the radar signs should help for now.
“You can see now when the traffic slows down and (drivers) can get across,” he said.
The third sign on Fairview is near Saiz Lane, Duran said, where students from Española Valley High School are the most frequent speeders.
“When the kids are being released from high school they all desperately want to go home,” he said. “It’s a straight shot (down Fairview), so of course they’re going to step on it.”
Four flashing stop signs were also installed at the intersection of Fairview and McCurdy Road.
“Before we only had regular stop signs there, and a lot of people were just ignoring them,” Duran said. “There’s been accidents there.”
While the signs might slow traffic down for now, a Montana State University study looking at the efficacy of radar speed signs warns, “The excessive use of signage to solve any speeding-related problem, real or perceived, could lead motorists to disregard the signage in the long term.”