Data Shows Traffic on Mill Street Above Speed Limit

By Ashlyn Kelly

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FRAMINGHAM – Mill Street is posted at 25 miles per hour, but data collected for the Framingham Traffic Commission show many drivers travel at speeds above the limit often, located off Pleasant Street.

The Framingham Traffic Commission presented the Mill Street speed data during its meeting on February 22.

District 3 Framingham City Councilor Adam Steiner, said in a letter that Mill Street has become a cut-through street for people who wish to avoid Edgell Road. 

“The data collected shows everybody’s currently traveling at 40 miles per hour or more,” the Councilor said, “and …that is simply too fast for that street.”

While presenting the data, Adam Kiel, Senior Traffic and Transportation Engineer, said the posted speed limit on Mill Street is 25 miles per hour and there were 491 vehicles traveling in the northbound direction during the time period the data was collected.

He said the 85th percentile speed, or the speed at which 85% of the vehicles were traveling at or less, was 35 miles per hour. 

When the data was collected in the southbound direction, there were 393 vehicles, and the 85th percentile speed was also 35 miles per hour, he added.

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There have been three accidents on Mill Street in the past four years, according to data. 

Framingham Traffic Commissioner Chair William Sedewitz said “some of the things that we hoped might be successful – things like temporary speed feedback signs – did not appear to be very helpful.”

Sedewitz said there was not a recommendation on what to do at the moment but “we wanted to present the data, give the public an opportunity to weigh in, and then figure out where we want to go.”

“Speeding is one of those things that’s very tough to address,” the Traffic Commission chair said. “There’s not a lot of approaches to try to drive the speed down.”

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Traffic Commissioner Mario Alvarez, asked if there was any availability to get someone to “help out” until something permanent was done. 

Framingham Police Lt. Harry Wareham, who serves as the police department’s representative to the Traffic Commision said, “I think if we had more officers in the traffic unit that may help. … I run the traffic unit and I have one guy.”

“I understand that speeding is a major concern and, you know, we’re doing the best we can,” said Lt. Wareham.

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Ashlyn Kelly is a Spring 2022 SOURCE intern. She is a is a senior communication arts major with minors in political science and journalism at Framingham State University. When she is not writing an article, you can usually find her in a theatre.