TOPSHAM

Speeding enforcement is a priority for Topsham police.

With a rise in speeding complaints from residents, Topsham selectmen voted unanimously last week to make enforcement a highlighted priority. Selectmen discussed resources to help police tackle the issue, including increasing the number of officers on the force and investment in portable speed signs.

During last week’s meeting Selectboard Chairperson David Douglass said that even as selectmen sat in a Nov. 3 workshop discussing traffic pattern changes at the Elm, Winter and Main street intersection, halfway through the conversation turned to the speed of vehicles in town. It comes up at every meeting and workshop, he said.

Selectmen were scheduled to talk about speeding complaints on Middlesex Road last week, but put off asking the Maine Department of Transportation to evaluate speed limits there until police can take a swing at the town-wide problem.

“I don’t want to feel like we’re doing something,” Douglass said. “I want to make sure we are.”

The town is re-striping roads to make them feel tighter to calm traffic, installing sidewalks and putting up signs — little things it can do.

“We constantly sit here — and I am as guilty as anyone else — hearing the conversation all the time about the speed in Topsham, and acknowledge it, and (say) there’s nothing we can do,” he said. “It’s a problem everywhere.”

He asked Topsham Police Chief Chris Lewis to gather traffic enforcement related information for the period between August and October. During that time, Lewis told selectmen that police made 747 traffic stops.

“Traffic complaints by far are our number one volume,” for calls, Lewis told selectmen.

“An officer’s priority on a dayto day basis is not just looking for speeders,” he said. “We look at traffic enforcement continuously.”

The town has two patrol officers operating 24 hours a day.

When possible, officers pick a different road nearly every shift on which to work traffic details. They have performed 45 of them on various roads in town during those 13 weeks, focusing on speed enforcement. The details have averaged 30 minutes each, primarily because the police department was down three positions in that timeframe.

This is not just a town-wide issue, it is felt throughout the county and state. After 23 years in law enforcement, Lewis said he’s come across no formula that works to stop speeding and other traffic violations.

“Even enforcement is not making a difference,” he said.

Nor is rising fines. Distracted driving carries a $310 fine, but people continue to text and drive. Several months ago, an officer witnessed a driver at a red light on Route 196 with a cell phone in each hand.

The town’s two speed data signs do help some when drivers see their speed displayed. One of them has been posted on Middlesex Road near Arbor Avenue, facing inbound traffic where the speed limit is 40 miles per hour. Between Nov. 22-30, the sign counted a total of 23,139 vehicles.

He said 54 percent of vehicles were traveling within the speed limit, while approximately 46 percent were traveling at least 5 miles per hour over the speed limit. Breaking the numbers down further, 16 percent traveled at 6-10 mph over the speed limit during that span, and 2 percent traveled at 11-15 mph over the speed limit.

Just Thursday morning, an officer on a detail on Route 196 stopped a vehicle traveling 68 miles per hour right through town.

“It is an issue we try to dedicate resources to when applicable and when possible,” Lewis said.

Select woman Ruth Lyons agreed that traffic enforcement needs to be a priority.

“After hearing all this, I think our job for the town, is absolutely safety as much as we can,” she said. “If we don’t have enough staff in our police department to cover and help with safety issues, then we need to look at that.”

Lewis was also given the OK to accept state grants for speed enforcement. He will be giving selectmen regular updates.

dmoore@timesrecord.com