Legacy Farms North Road runs for 2 miles between Routes 135 and 85. Over the past three years, the road has attracted an increasing number of vehicles and pedestrians, as adjoining residential developments containing several hundred homes have filled out, and as drivers along Route 135 seek a bypass to avoid frequent backups in downtown Hopkinton.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, ownership of Legacy Farms North Road rests with the Town of Hopkinton.

There are no posted speed limit signs on this road.  Recently, a Hopkinton Police officer, when asked, stated that the limit was 40 mph. According to MassDOT, the statutory speed limit is 40 mph “on an undivided highway outside of a thickly settled or business district.” For “thickly settled” areas (homes less than 200 feet apart) the limit is 30 mph.

We have reached out to both Hopkinton’s Department of Public Works (highway) and the Department of Public Safety (police) to get some clarification about speed limits on Legacy Farms North Road and, more importantly, what it takes to get signs posted.

According to the Town of Hopkinton, “Traffic studies were conducted as part of the Legacy Farms development, and all approved traffic signs were installed prior to acceptance as a public road. There are no additional traffic signs planned to be installed.”

That may be the case, however, many GPS systems show the road as having a speed limit of 55 mph, which is both absurd and at odds with any MassDOT statutory limit. Indeed, we have seen cars traveling very fast down the road, ostensibly in accordance with what their navigation system says is the speed limit. This behavior courts danger, and the road, especially in places where it curves, is no stranger to accidents.

Dear Town of Hopkinton:  Please post speed limit signs on this road — 40 mph if necessary and 30 mph if possible. Do this soon, before we have more serious accidents.

— Jeffrey Luth, Hopkinton

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