City Hall - 455 Main Street Worcester, Massachusetts

Chairperson Councilor Colorio read the item and moved for a roll call vote to adopt the item. Order adopted on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays

Chairperson Councilor Colorio read the item and moved to take the item up collectively with item #3b.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio recognized the Commissioner of Transportation and Mobility, who provided an overview of the item, including the department’s support for both proposals to adopt a statutory speed limit of 25 mph and the establishment of Safety Zones with 20 mph speed limits, as well as data collected on speed limit reduction including the consensus speeding and traffic safety are serious concerns in the city, higher rates of severe vehicle crashes occurring since 2020, and the six (6) individuals severely or fatally injured in the last eight (8) weeks.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio recognized the Interim Police Chief, who provided support regarding the speed limit reduction and an overview on several methods to aid with the change including expanding the Traffic Division by incorporating the Motorcycle Unit.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio recognized the following speakers:
1. Oliver Chadwick, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
2. Nelly Medina, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
3. Jacob Seibel, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
4. Manolo (No last name given), Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
5. Karen Valentine-Goins, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
6. Greg Dorschler, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
7. David Webb, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
8. Tim O’Neil, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
9. Mark Granato, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
10. Everett Beals, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
11. Wahya Wolfpaw, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
12. Nathalie Gibson, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
13. Eric Stratton, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of items #3a and #3b
14. Robert Bilotta, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
15. Alex Salcedo, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a
16. Nicole Belanger, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of item #3a

Chairperson Councilor Colorio recognized Councilor King, who spoke concerning the process relative to phasing in speed limit reductions and enforcing new speed limits in the city, the timeline related to phasing in the speed limit reduction, traffic enforcement training throughout the Police Department, best practices related to ghost cars, and provisions within the statue related to flexibility by City Council with the Commissioner of Transportation and Mobility and Interim Police Chief.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio brought forth the following Chairman’s Resolution: That the City Council of the City of Worcester does hereby support instituting a citywide 25 mile per hour statutory speed limit.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio recognized Councilor Nguyen, who spoke concerning additional resident concerns as relates to speed limit reduction with the Commissioner of Mobility and Transportation.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio moved for a roll call vote to recommend approval of the item to accept the provisions of section 17C of Chapter 90 of the General Laws to establish a 25 miles per hour statutory speed limit city-wide in thickly settled or business districts, accept the provisions of Section 18B of Chapter 90 of the General Laws to authorize establishment a speed limit of 20 miles per hour within areas designated by the City Council as safety zones, and enact revisions to the city’s general revised ordinances to enact the same.

Recommend Approval to accept the provisions of section 17C of Chapter 90 of the General Laws to establish a 25 miles per hour statutory speed limit city-wide in thickly settled or business districts, accept the provisions of Section 18B of Chapter 90 of the General Laws to authorize establishment a speed limit of 20 miles per hour within areas designated by the City Council as safety zones, and enact revisions to the city’s general revised ordinances to enact the same on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays

That the City Council of the City of Worcester does hereby support instituting a citywide 25 mile per hour statutory speed limit.

Chairperson Councilor Colorio moved for a roll call vote to recommend the item be filed.

Recommend File on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays (See Item #3a)