City wants to lower speed limit on road that leads to Governors Island bridge

LACONIA — At the urging of resident Richard Homsi and on the recommendation of Police Chief Chris Adams, the City Council unanimously called for lowering the speed limit on Summit Avenue from 35 to 25 miles per hour.

A little more than 2,000 feet in length, Summit Avenue runs from Endicott Street East (Rte. 11-B) at The Weirs in Laconia to Edgewater Drive on Governors Island in Gilford and includes the bridge linking the island to the mainland. Homsi, whose home is the last in the city before the bridge, told the councilors that the speed of traffic on the street is "out of control."

Adams said that electronic monitoring of traffic indicated that while the average speed on the street ranged between 28 and 30 miles per hour, more than 70 vehicles were clocked at more than 45 miles per hour with one recorded at 62 miles per hour. The chief said that before the meeting he tried to drive the street at the 35 mile per hour limit, but backed off the throttle when he felt unsafe at 28 miles per hour.

Homsi recalled a fatal accident in 2006 when a car leaving the island at high speed went airborne first on cresting the bridge and again on hitting a stump before coming to rest atop a young woman. Adams confirmed that "bridge jumping has been going on forever" and Homsi echoed "it goes on every day of the week — motorcycles, cars, trucks, you name it." Homsi said that no one was injured but both vehicles were totaled when a pickup truck and minivan collided head-on earlier this month. "I don't want another fatality."

Homsi said that after installing speed bumps and speed dips, the Town of Gilford posted a speed limit of 25 miles per hour on all the roads on Governors Island and asked the council do the same on Summit Avenue.

After the councilors endorsed a motion by Councilor Armand Bolduc (Ward 6) to reduce the speed limit City Manager Scott Myers said he would determine if the city has the authority to change the speed limit without the approval of the state.