FRAMINGHAM - A public safety meeting regarding a number of issues in the Warren Oaks and Musterfield area, especially speeding on Warren Road, was held on Saturday, December 16.

District 7 City Councilor Leora Mallach helped plan the meeting, which was held at Fuller Middle School. With many notable streets such as Warren Road and Oaks Road in that area, along with the Fuller and McCarthy schools, multiple members of the neighborhood expressed their worries about speeding to other city and police officials on hand. Residents told of incidents of near-misses and property damage due to negligent driving.

Deputy Chief of the Framingham Police Department Sean Riley noted that there were 106 reported vehicle accidents in the Warren Oaks and Musterfield area from January to November of this year.

Still, Chief Engineer of the city’s Public Works Department and Vice Chair of the Framingham Traffic Commission Bill Sedewitz explained to attendees that speed limits—which range from 25 to 30 miles per hour on Warren Road—are often hard to enforce. He mentioned that decisions on those figures are also handed down from the state level as regulatory speed limits, adding that he was involved in the prior process of submitting data and testimonies to Massachusetts officials in order to lower the speed limit on Dudley Road; the state denied that application.

“We haven’t tried it since,” Sedewitz continued.

“Given the data that exists for Warren Road, I think it’s extremely unlikely, but that’s not to say that it couldn’t be tried.”

Cameras to track speed were brought up by some residents as a potential solution for speeding mitigation. FPD Lieutenant and Traffic Commission Member Harry Wareham noted that using cameras for traffic enforcement is currently illegal in the Commonwealth, while Riley added that technological monitoring would add other complications. The deputy chief explained that the police department tries to analyze speeding data and send resources out accordingly.

“Every neighborhood meeting we go to…the number one subject in every community meeting is exactly what we’re talking about: it’s speed. It is the biggest concern in every neighborhood,” Riley told attendees.

“It comes down to: when we deploy the resources and where…We’re limited on resources, and that’s happening all over the city.”

Speed bumps, raised sidewalks, hiring additional traffic enforcement officers, and other improvements aimed at making the area more pedestrian friendly were also mentioned during the meeting. Riley said that more officers are slated to be brought to the Warren Oaks and Musterfield area to monitor the traffic following the community meeting. He also suggested that they might be citing drivers with a lower tolerance for speeding based on the feedback presented during the event.