OCEAN CITY – Citing consistency and safety concerns, a resort commission this week agreed to reduce the speed limit along an uptown residential street.
On Monday, the Ocean City Police Commission voted unanimously, with Council President Matt James absent, to reduce the speed limit on 94th Street from 30 mph to 25 mph.
City Engineer Terry McGean said the recommendation to reduce the speed limit came after an uptown resident sent her concerns to the full Mayor and Council late last year.
“The speed limit is 30 mph. The speed limit in the rest of Little Salisbury – the speed limit, frankly, on a lot of our other residential streets – is 25 mph,” he said. “So while I don’t think it makes a significant difference in terms of safety, in terms of consistency, in the neighborhood I do believe it’s reasonable to lower the speed limit on 94th Street from 30 mph to 25 mph.”
The police commission – comprised of the mayor and three councilmembers – also serves concurrently as the Ocean City Traffic Commission, which regulates parking and pedestrian and vehicle traffic. McGean told members this week the recommendation needed commission approval. He added the Ocean City Police Department had already agreed to the reduction.
“From a safety standpoint, it’s not a huge difference, quite frankly, one way or the other,” he said. “Quite frankly, as a driver I’m not sure you’re going to notice the difference either. To me it was more about consistency.”
Police Chief Ross Buzzuro also expressed his department’s support.
“It may not seem at this point that it’s going to make much of a difference,” he said. “But for us it’s a win-win because any speed reduction will improve safety, there will be less accidents and possibly one less injury. So for all the right reasons, we’re in total agreement with the reduction.”
Councilman Peter Buas questioned if any other residential streets needed to be addressed.
“Are there any left that would be 30 mph residential blocks?” he asked.
McGean said he wasn’t aware of any, but would review speed limits on every residential street.
“After this meeting I’ll take a look and see if there are any other ones we can address,” he said.
With no further discussion, the commission voted 3-0 to approve the speed reduction along 94th Street. Once a regulation is drafted, it will be signed by commission members and sent to the Mayor and Council for ratification.
