By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

A Hooksett Town Council subcommittee investigating a uniform town-wide speed limit is running into some speed bumps.

The committee was formed after complaints from some residents that cars were moving too fast through their neighborhoods.

The default speed limit, as determined by state laws, for town roads is 35 mph, unless otherwise posted.

Town Councilor Douglas St. Pierre, representing the street sign study committee, said the group has looked into creating a town-wide speed limit of 25 mph, but said such a change would require extensive documentation and probably a detailed study from an independent traffic engineer.

St. Pierre suggested not everyone in town may be on board for such an initiative.

“The police department will not even recommend a speed limit,” said St. Pierre. “They’re just not going to go there.”

Town Administrator David Jodoin said police have hesitated to make such a move because “they’re not traffic engineers,” he said.

Town Council Chairman Michael DiBitetto said previous incarnations of the council have allowed 15 mph speed limit signs in some neighborhoods, but Hooksett police have no authority to enforce such limits.

“We’re posting them and the police are getting beaten up because they can’t enforce,” said DiBitetto.

With a detailed study, said St. Pierre, the lowest enforceable uniform speed limit the town could set is 25, and councilors seemed to wonder if such a change would be worth the costs.

Town Councilor Dan Belanger suggested the council contact the Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission, of which Hooksett is a member, to see if the nonprofit group might be willing to conduct a study of Hooksett’s roads.

Town Councilor Mike Jolin suggested an independent study might not provide the information those residents worried about traffic speeds may want to hear.

“The traffic (engineer) is not going to back what the residents want,” he said.

The street sign committee is also working on establishing signs for the town’s parks and public meeting spaces. St. Pierre said existing signs in the town’s parks tend to be faded beyond use, which again makes park rules and regulations unenforceable to police.

St. Pierre said unreadable signs and unclear regulations have allowed a homeless person to live at Donati Field, and allowed an abandoned car with flat tires to sit at Lambert’s Park.