Just after moving to Verplanck Avenue in December, I called the Beacon Police Department about people speeding on the 25-mph street. I was told it has been a problem for years. The department put up a box that monitors speeds digitally but it was only there for about week. During that time, people may have slowed down (a little).
This morning I saw flashing lights and glanced out the window. A deer had been hit and was in the road. The police were coercing it to cross the road but its leg was broken. He collapsed in the road. This could have easily been a child walking to school. Children walk up and down this street, crossing back and forth every single day. What will it take to get people to slow down?
Something is seriously wrong when I have the police, a city council member, the mayor and multiple residents telling me it’s always been a problem. Take a moment to stand on Verplanck in the morning and watch people speed by. The number of tickets that could be written would bring in lots of revenue for the city.
Kim Beller, Beacon
They could also make a fortune ticketing people who blow through the stop signs as they cut through to avoid Verplank. Orchard Place and all its cross streets from North Avenue to North Elm may as well not even have stop signs — people just don’t stop.
In the past few years, towns and cities across the U.S. have lost court cases after they were found to have targeted citizens when issuing traffic violations to generate fortunes to balance their budgets. Be careful that the role and goal of maintaining civic law and order is not targeting and revenue-generating. It’s a lesson some of our neighboring towns, hamlets and cities need to learn.