During their August 2020 meeting, the Charlestown City Council approved a plan to use existing funds to purchase four portable and solar powered radar speed limit signs, equipped with multi-colored LED messaging. The new radar message signs will be assigned and periodically moved about each of the four council districts within Charlestown; and mounted on designated city street locations, based on citizen speeding complaints and areas where a local vehicular traffic study is needed. These new signs will be easy for the city street department to relocate, so that they are able to be deployed for weeks at a time; then relocated where most needed. “The City Council is excited to work on this project with our Police Department. The signs will help in neighborhoods where our residents have concerns of speeding. We look forward to working with them on many more projects”, commented City Councilwoman Ruthie Jackson. These new radar speed signs will serve two primary purposes: First, providing a friendly speed limit reminder to neighbors who might be driving a little fast in a residential area; and secondly, provide the Charlestown Police Department with traffic data that will more efficiently prioritize locations and time frames where concentrated traffic enforcement patrols are needed. “Public safety is one of our top priorities in Charlestown and I’m extremely satisfied that the Council has taken action to support our Police Department in this initiative to tackle speeding in our community. Our residents will benefit from the information these signs will provide and this gesture demonstrates that we hear their concerns and want to work together to ensure that Charlestown is a safe place to live and play”, commented Charlestown Mayor Dr. Treva Hodges. The new Charlestown radar speed signs will not document license plates, take photos, or record video; rather display the speed of passing vehicles, with a reminder message if too fast, as well as collect vehicular traffic data.
New Radar/Message Speed Limit Sign Project
