SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – Residents are demanding changes to speeding in some Springfield neighborhoods. Page Boulevard, a four-lane thoroughfare, has a history of speeding and car accidents, and on Friday members of the East Springfield Neighborhood Council joined the Springfield Police Department as the traffic bureau hosted a ‘Check Your Speed’ event with hopefuls. To remind drivers to slow down. The traffic bureau checked the speed of passing cars and even pulled some over.

Council co-chairman John Koski told Western Mass News that speed checks help hold drivers accountable. “As we stand here with our signs and watch people go by, the majority of drivers recognize the signs and you can see them looking at their speedometers and slowing down,” Koski said.

State Representative Orlando Ramos shared some future plans for Page Boulevard. “Creating a kind of road diet, reducing the road to one lane instead of two lanes on each side. Because the width of the street seems like a highway to people and they tend to speed excessively. more,” he explained.

The group is also working with DPW to put streetlights at Bircham and Page Boulevard. This stretch of Page Boulevard has had three crashes and 48 citations in the past six months, according to the Springfield Police Department. Lifelong East Springfield resident Marie Koski told us how pleased residents are with the speed controls. “They come and thank us. They tell us about the cars speeding by, the difficulties they have getting out of the driveway and onto the street,” he said.

One of the most important concerns after many accidents is the safety of their children. “There are issues with their kids having to cross the street when the school bus drops them off, so yes they support it,” Marie Koski said.

Page Boulevard remains the main focus, but has hosted highlights on East Street and Carew Street in the past.

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