Palumbo ‘baffled’ by town board’s lack of understanding

North Fork Assemblymember Anthony Palumbo was surprised to hear Riverhead Town officials didn’t understand the limits of the speed limit bill passed by the State Legislature this month.

“I’m baffled,” he said yesterday.

The town board actually voted to ask the legislature to pass the bill, Palumbo said.

On March 5, the board voted unanimously to approve a “home rule message” asking the legislature to adopt the bill. The town board resolution specified the numbers assigned to the bill in the current legislative session.

“They had a copy of it when they voted,” he said. In fact, he said, they’ve had a copy of it for six years.

“I’ve had this [in the Assembly] for six years. They’ve passed a home rule message for six years,” he said.

“It’s a one-page bill,” he added.

Palumbo said he Sen. Ken LaValle “really put a lot of work into getting this passed.” The legislature does not favor giving towns control over speed limits.

The bill in question gave the town board authority to set speed limits on town roads “functionally classified” as “local.” The State Department of Transportation generally retains control over roads classified as “arterial” and “collector,” regardless of who owns the roadways.

“I can’t expect they’re looking for authority on all their roads, because that wouldn’t fly and the governor would never sign that,” Palumbo said.

Even passage of the bill delegating authority over speed limits on local roads was a heavy lift, he said.

“The bottom line is, they’re not going to get unlimited control,” Palumbo said.

It’s possible for the legislature to grant the authority to the town for portions of certain roads classified as arterial and collector road, but that would have to be done in a law naming the roads in question and describing the sections affected, Palumbo said.

“They’ll need to provide names of specific roads and intersections, with data demonstrating their safety concerns,” Palumbo said.