Evening commuters in the village of Andover might have noticed a new feature on East Greenwood Street. A very cool high tech mobile speed sign has appeared in front of the new village office and former Methodist church.
Following the July Village Board meeting where speed bumps for East Greenwood Street and Dyke Street were suggested and subsequently voted down Andover residents reacted on Facebook. Some Andover residents were in favor of the speed bumps, others thought rumble strips would be more beneficial, and yet others felt that a radar sign telling drivers their speed would help. It was determined that there was some county agency that loans out a mobile speed sign, but how the village could borrow it was unclear.
Andover resident and guy who knows how to do things, Brian Perkins, knew just who to get in touch with. Turns out it was the Allegany County Sheriffs department. After Perkins reached out to the Sheriffs department they liaised with the Andover Village Police department to coordinate a plan for placing the mobile speed unit in Andover. After that the magic of inter-agency cooperation took over and now the village has a mobile speed unit on loan.
***An anonymous contributor would also like you to know that Rob Carter (board member and police commissioner) did also send an email to the Allegany County Sheriff to facilitate the speed trailer loan as well. ***
Local celebrity/police chief, Jim Rumfeld, stated "The sign actually records information about speeds and traffic so we can get information about the highest traffic times and at what times people are speeding." Officer Rumfeld went on to explain that this information can then be used to determine if there is a safety issue in the area and if more intervention is needed like traffic stops, signage, or rumble strips etc.
Officer Rumfeld outlined a plan to place the speed unit at several locations around town in the coming weeks including Dyke St., Rochambeau Ave., and Grove St. These are areas that many residents have singled out as being problematic when it comes to speeders.
Most of the folks driving on the village roads are Andover residents, so it stands to reason that a majority of the folks speeding on these roads are also Andover residents. (Yes, yes...we know about the out of towners on Rochambeau and Grove Street) If you are one of the folks speeding, maybe slow down? 25mph is for sure the coolest, best and most legal speed to be going. Please and thank you.
PS: If you're one of those bright bulbs who thinks it would be super cool to see how fast you can go to get the sign to read a "high score" just know that the sign is actually set to show no numbers for grossly unsafe speeds.