In an effort to improve safety, especially for teens walking near the Windham Skate Park in Route 202, the town council is requesting a review of the speed limit along the road.

The speed zone review request targets the stretch of Route 202 from Pope Road to Swett Road.

The request is in an effort to increase public safety, and is the second attempt to do so in five years. The council is hoping the speed limit will be reduced from 50 mph to 35 mph.

“That is a dangerous stretch of road for pedestrians,” said David Tobin, one of the town councilors. “We are still looking for the best way to approach the problem.”

Tobin is concerned that students making their way from the Windham High School to the skate park (adjacent to the public safety building) are in danger of being hit by passing vehicles.

The quarter-mile stretch of road offers no breakdown lane, as the asphalt ends in jagged edges a few inches from the white lines. Pedestrians, roller-bladers, and skateboarders are forced by circumstance to either traverse legally in the mix of soft sand and smashed tarmac, or illegally along the auto lane.

“I saw one kid traveling horizontally (luge-style) on his skateboard down the road,” said Town Manager Anthony Plante. “Coming up on something like that even at 35 mph may not be adequate enough to react in time, let alone 50 mph.”

The town requested the Maine Department of Transportation review the speed limit in January of 2001. The department eventually rejected the proposal in March of 2002. The council is hoping for a faster and more agreeable response this time around.

“The answer, in short, was ‘No.'” said Plante. “The MDOT responded by saying the speed limit reduction was ‘not warranted.’ But since then, the area has grown considerably, and the addition of the skate park has created a steady traffic flow of pedestrians along the stretch of road. There has been a vast change in nature and use in that area.”

“Along with the skate park, there is the public safety building, the human services department, and a few other driveways that have cars going in and out to a 50 mph speed zone,” said Police Officer Jeff Smith.

“The problem is two-fold,” Plante said. “Motorists really do need to slow it down and be careful. And pedestrians need to move aside. Yes, it is an awful pain to walk on the side of that road, but at the time being, there is no alternative.”

Plante is also considering widening the area beyond the white lines in addition to lowering the speed limit. There may already be a layer of asphalt underneath all the loose earth, he said. If this is the case, the town may be able to clean off the dirt layer, and build fresh pavement over it, leveling it off with the road, and offering cyclists and pedestrians more distance between themselves and passing motorists.

Along with this proposed change, town officials are looking into regulating the speed of motorists inside the grounds of Windham High School. At the moment, no tickets can be issued for speeding through the parking lots and campus roadways, but the school has the right to ban excessive speeders from the grounds. Upon persistent negligence, the school can have those motorists arrested for trespassing.

“All of that seems a little unnecessary,” said Smith. “It would be nice to just have posted limits, which alone reduce the amount of speeders.”

Police monitor the speed of passing motorists along the stretch of road between Pope Road and Swett Road.