Colonie police taking traffic suggestions from residents

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Colonie police introduced a new way for residents to tell officers about their roadway concerns. The new approach aims to pave the way for safer streets.

With issues like speeding, texting and overall reckless driving, many Colonie residents said they're worried when they're on the road.

"It's a little scary, and sometimes unsafe," said one Colonie neighbor who didn't want to be on camera. "It's just very concerning when you're walking down the street to go to the park, and there's traffic going 40 miles per hour."

“Oh yea, yes, very fast it's a cut through so, people are just sweeping by," said Alexis Meikle, a Colonie resident.

Those concerns are no surprise to the Colonie Police Department. News 10's Vanessa Blasi drove around with a Colonie police officer today and witnessed a driver get pulled over for speeding in the neighborhoods.

“The number one issue that I hear about from resident, is their concern over what they believe to be traffic safety related issues,” said Jay Gerace, Colonie police chief.

The Colonie Police Department recently launched a new method for residents to submit their concerns online using two public links.

The first link is for Traffic Safety Speeding and Aggressive Driving Complaints and the second link is for Highway Safety Committee Agenda Item Requests.

The department has received about 30 submissions in the last two days. One neighbor, who didn't want to be idenitified, said she submitted her concerns about Frederick Avenue right away.

“I have a dog, I walk on the street, and I really stopped because of how fast people were going," the Colonie neighbor said.

According to officers, Frederick Avenue is one of the roads that has received the most complaints because people use it as a "cut-through road." Their plan is to conduct road safety checks through patrols and be a reminder for drivers.

“The fact that multiple vehicles drive though there and see us, we do see a tendency over the next couple of weeks where people actually slow down on that roadway because they know we’re there," said Chief Gerace.

Chief Jerace said there is also the possibility of structural changes such as adding stop signs and speed bumps. Residents can recommend larger changes like this at the Town of Colonie Highway Safety committee meetings.

These meetings will be held at 2p.m. every third Wednesday of the month at the Town of Colonie Public Operations Center's 2nd Floor Conference Room. Police said all meetings are open to the public, but it is very rare that these changes will be implemented.

“It is important for them to understand that that’s extremely rare," said Chief Gerace. "We don’t recommend it because the road was built with a tremendous amount of thought ahead of time.” 

Many local officers said that when it comes to road safety, it's not just neighbors they want to protect, but also their family members.

“My kids drive on these roads so it’s not only on a professional level, but on a personal level too, we want to protect where we live," said Brian Curran, Colonie police investigator.

Road safety checks will be happening all throughout town, mostly in the areas with the highest numbers of complaints. For more information, visit the Colonie police website.