SYKESVILLE — Sykesville Police Chief John Williams Jr. said this week he will draft a proposed ordinance to the Sykesville mayor and Town Council in January to install speed cameras in town limits.

On Dec. 14, Williams briefed the mayor and council on results of a recent study completed by the Baltimore-based The Traffic Group, which showed the town has an issue with speeding on two town streets.

"The survey clearly indicated that there is a concern," he said.

The study, conducted in November, showed that on average, 400 cars a day drove 12 mph or greater on a stretch of Obrecht Road, while 80 cars a day did the same along Springfield Avenue near Sykesville Middle School, Williams said.

The majority of the cars sped around 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., he said.

"That's the time period that kids are either going to or from school," Williams said.

Williams said he found another part of the survey "disturbing" — it recorded speeding around a curve on Obrecht Road during two days of heavy rain, he said.

Route 32 was also surveyed, but traffic there does not meet the state criteria for speed cameras, Williams said.

He said he was surprised to see Route 32 did fairly well in regard to speed, and said that might have to do with the presence of a large police facility nearby — the Maryland State Police Training Commission center just off Route 32.

Also, rush hour congestion slows traffic in that area, he said.

According to a state law passed early this year, municipalities may install speed cameras in areas where there is less than a 35 mph speed limit, and within a half-mile radius of a school zone.

Towns must pass their own ordinance in order to take advantage of the state law, which became effective in October.

Once fines begin to be implemented, 10 percent of the $40 fine goes toward local public safety, then the rest will go to the state. Drivers are not assessed points on speed camera violations.

Williams said he plans to have the ordinance ready for the council to introduce at its Jan. 11 meeting, then have a public hearing at the Jan. 25 meeting at the Town House, 7547 Main St.

Williams said speeding and traffic safety are residents' top concerns, and though the goal is to have voluntary compliance, he said technology can help enforce the law and slow down drivers.

"This is about a behavioral change in our society," he said.

"Everybody wants to leave late and get there early," he said, "and unfortunately the only way to do that is to break the law by driving over the posted speed limit."

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user comments (2)

user vmail says...

Having driven on Obrecht Rd the last 3 years, I would say speed cameras are need, if that is what it will take to slow drivers down. Would like to see cameras place on MD-26.

Posted 8:57 PM, 12.25.09

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user jed3d says...

From Marylanders for Responsible Enforcement: Speed camera news from 2009 you may have missed: 1) Prince George's County assigned the duty of selecting camera sites to the County 'Revenue Authority'. That's the actual name of the organization. 2) Baltimore City officials admits on camera that speed cameras were taking continuous video and were being used for ..."surveillance". That was the actual word they used. 3) Baltimore City and several Prince George's County towns created new school zones explicitly for the purpose of installing speed cameras. 4) Montgomery County's OLO reports that a total of 24,868 speed camera tickets had to be thrown out with the reason cited as 'No Violation Ocurred' or 'Operator Error'... meaning the citations were generated erroneously. 5) The town of Cheverly has moved to lower speed limits in the town after speed cameras were approved. Statements by town council members recorded in town minutes made it clear the intent was to circumvent the 'ticket threshold' in the state law. I, for one, don't welcome this Cash Grab in my county. Leave that to the "People's Republics" that surround us.

Posted 4:24 PM, 01.06.10

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