In New York state, the statutory speed limit on all roads is 55 mph unless otherwise posted on an authorized regulatory sign. Vehicle and Traffic Law, sections 1620, 1622 and 1624, give the state Department of Transportation the authority to establish speed limits on county and town roads and on state highways. Should a town wish to change the speed limit on one of their town roads, the proper procedure is for the town to pass a resolution for the change and submit this to the Franklin County Highway Superintendent, Jon Hutchins. A TE 9 (for a linear speed zone) or a TE 10 (for an area speed zone) will be submitted to the DOT for an engineering study.

Towns with a population of 50,000 or more may establish their own speed limits.

The goals of setting speed limits are to provide appropriate speed limits on all highways and to prevent the setting of unrealistic speed limits on state highways by local authorities. Accordingly, speed limits are established only after a traffic engineering study and a traffic investigation has been made in accordance with established traffic engineering practices. This can be accomplished by the DOT.

There are three types of speed limits: linear, area, and school zone. Actually there is another type, work zone, but this is a temporary speed limit established to be in effect during periods of construction.

A linear speed limit is one which applies only on a specific highway or road. An example of a linear speed limit is a 35 mph speed limit through a small community on a state highway, like the 35 mph limit on U.S. Route 11 through North Bangor. By state law, no such linear speed limit, other than a school speed zone, may be less than 25 mph. I have seen municipalities place speed limit signs as low as 10 mph on certain roads, which is unauthorized and in violation of state law. It’s also unenforceable, but most drivers are not aware of that.

An area speed limit applies to all streets and roads in a specific area, such as in the villages of Malone, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, all of which have speed limits of 30 mph. Area speed limits, by state law, cannot be less than 30 mph.

Where a speed limit below 55 mph is warranted, the new speed limit must be realistic in terms of existing traffic speeds. Traffic engineers in New York state and across the U.S. use the 85th percentile speed as a basis for establishing posted speed limits.

The 85th percentile speed is that speed at which or below that 85 percent of vehicles are traveling in a free-flow manner along a given highway. Speed studies sample 200 vehicles for up to two hours. During the study speeds are measured that are reasonable and prudent for conditions in which motorists can freely maneuver their vehicles and are not subject to the influence of other drivers who may be simultaneously sharing the highway at a given time.

It is important to remember that a lower speed limit does not necessarily result in lower operating speeds, as evidenced by a survey conducted on Finney Boulevard in the village of Malone. Traffic speed studies have shown that the compliance level is best achieved on a voluntary basis when the speed limit is set at approximately the 85th percentile speed. Otherwise, police enforcement may be necessary to achieve compliance for speed limits that are set lower than the 85th percentile speed.