COLRAIN — The Police Department and officials hope to mitigate issues of speeding in town, with likely solutions involving adding more speed limit signs and increasing traffic enforcement.

The issue was discussed during a recent Selectboard meeting, during which West Leyden Road resident Amy Sullivan expressed her frustration with the number of vehicles that zoom by her barn.

“The traffic goes faster than what we feel comfortable with,” she said.

Sullivan is not alone. The Police Department receives about three to five complaints per month for speeding spanning across all roads in Colrain, according to Police Chief Christopher Lannon. The Selectboard also received four emails about speeding issues on West Leyden Road prior to Sullivan’s appointment to meet with the Selectboard.

With Adamsville Road, Call Road, Jacksonville Road, Greenfield Road and West Leyden Road being the largest areas of concern, officials hope to find a solution. Both Selectboard Chair Mike Slowinski and Lannon think the answer involves putting up more speed limit signs and increasing traffic enforcement.

“We are down to one lane in some areas. We are planning a lot of enforcement,” Lannon said in an interview. “We will have to step up and do more.”

Per Massachusetts law, thickly settled areas (areas with less than 200 feet between structures), such as Colrain Center, have a speed limit of 25. The speed limit changes throughout town according to the individual road surface, lines and integrity of road, according to Lannon.

Lannon initially began investigating speeding issues shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began, at which time the speeding issue was “placed on the back-burner,” according to Slowinski. The Police Department intends to revive its investigation.

The Colrain police have a traffic trailer to collect data about speeding, but it was broken earlier this year. It was recently fixed and will be used in hopes of solving the problem.

“I can use the trailer to retrieve data so we can get a better idea of what we are looking at,” Lannon said.

Ski season brings the highest volume of traffic to Colrain, according to Lannon. He said the town will see about 150 to 200 vehicles pass through per hour. With roads through town that lead to Vermont, Slowinki thinks many of the speeding vehicles are out-of-towners passing through on ski trips.

“There are definitely people that don’t live in Colrain that drive fast through the roads,” Slowinski said in an interview.

The Police Department plans to conduct an assessment of the roads of concern and offer recommendations for speed limits that will need approval from the state Department of Transportation. After that, the town will be able to install more signs.

“I think it is something that needs to be addressed sooner or later,” Slowinski said.

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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