Kate Berard said it was not a manufactured topic. 

During a special meeting on Tuesday night, June 10, the Barrington Town Council member offered an explanation on how the council first ventured into the speed camera discussion. 

She said a neighbor had told her about the crossing guard at Sowams School and how she had almost been hit by passing cars. 

Berard said she used that information as a stepping-off point: she began watching the crossing guard more closely, and soon discovered that Camille Field was strongly in favor of speed cameras. She said Field has told her of harrowing near-misses that have taken place on Sowams Road near the school. She said Field told her about a truck driver who hollered at her and a police officer from another town who sped past her at 40 miles per hour. The school zone speed limit is 20 mph.

Berard said she also heard from someone who told her they had been passed while driving on Sowams Road. 

Berard explained how she started to notice her own behavior while driving past speed cameras in Pawtucket during her commute to work. 

Berard also found a receptive audience to the speed camera debate in the town’s BPAC — Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Two members of that committee spoke in support of speed cameras during the June 10 meeting. 

At the core of the issue was safety, said Berard. The council member told audience members that she was not willing to risk her children’s lives or her neighbors’ lives. Later in the meeting she said she was convinced of the efficacy of speed cameras. 

Berard said she has been focused on Sowams Road and New Meadow Road because that is where comments were coming from. 

Other traffic-slowing measures

Fellow Councilor Kerry O’Neill referenced the recently-approved Complete Streets Plan, which includes a section of “Site Specific Safety Improvement Projects.”

O’Neill read from the plan the list of potential interventions for increasing safety near Barrington Schools: Brightly painted crosswalks; narrowed lanes with neck downs to shorten pedestrian crossing distances; speed tables; radar speed display signs; flashing lights at crossings; flashing stop signs; and, at the end of the list, speed cameras. 

Councilors took a proactive approach in explaining why they are focused on speed cameras and not other measures.

Jordan Jancosek said the roads being considered for speed cameras are state-owned, and that means the town is limited in the traffic-slowing measures it can use. She said Barrington officials would have to petition the state to get on the construction list — TIP, transportation improvement projects list — to build speed humps or speed tables. Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey said the state would not consider those changes for certain roads, such as County Road. 

Jancosek said the timing of some traffic-slowing measures would also be an issue. She said some changes could take longer to implement. 

During the public comment period, Berard said other solutions are not viable, are cost prohibitive and would take years to put in. Speed cameras, she said, would cost Barrington nothing. Berard said speed cameras seemed to be the most financially responsible solution. 

Revenue from tickets

How much money would be generated by tickets?

How much would the town receive?

Where would the money go?

Councilors spent a little time talking about the revenue associated with speed cameras. Jancosek said she would like to see revenue raised through speed camera tickets dedicated to a sidewalk fund. Other councilors agreed. O’Neill said speed cameras were a safety issue, and were not about getting money for the town coffers. Liana Cassar said revenue generation was not the rationale for speed cameras. She said councilors were hearing this issue is about safety. 

Barrington Town Council President Braxton Cloutier said he would like to figure out how Barrington could collect revenue from other sources, but that was not what speed cameras were about. 

Council members said the RFQ review process would allow officials and residents an opportunity to learn more about the speed ticket revenue.