If you’re driving through this city, better keep a light foot on the gas pedal.

According to Cranston Police Chief Michael Winquist, Cranston has one of the highest numbers of traffic stops in the state.

At last week’s City Council meeting, Winquist spoke about speeding issues in the city and how the department works to address them.

Winquist said more than 20,000 vehicles a year are stopped by the Police Department. By comparison, according to the 2023 Warwick Police Department’s annual report, the department made 2,599 traffic stops.

Council members and the mayor’s office have said they have been getting a lot of complaints about speeding. Winquist said speeding is the number-one complaint the department receives.

One way the police address the complaints is to gather data to verify whether any given area has a speeding problem. They use stealth devices on roadways to record the speed of every vehicle that passes by. If the study indicates the roadway needs more enforcement, resources are assigned to that location.

Normally a 5-to-10 mph margin is granted, and often the results of the study are surprising, Winquist said.

“What people perceive as a speeding issue, is more of a volume issue or might be something else that’s going on,” he said.

One example is Garden City Drive, where Councilman Chris Buonanno had received speeding complaints. Winquist said that, based on the data, the average speed was at the speed limit or a mile per hour or two over.

“So, what was perceived as a really bad area didn't turn out that way,” Winquist said.

But there are some speeding hotspots in the city. According to Winquist, data collected since Jan. 1 highlight the top six roads where the department has received verified speeding complaints and officers have done targeted enforcement.

A recent heat map generated by the city Planning Department also identified Cranston’s most dangerous streets and intersections.

The high-priority areas identified were Warwick Avenue/Broad Street, the Park Avenue corridor, Dyer Avenue and Phenix Avenue.

Winquist said the intersection of Warwick Avenue and Broad Street historically has been an area of numerous crashes, but it is not the most dangerous area for speeding.

He also said Dyer Avenue has come up before, but the department’s studies have not suggested high speeds there.

He notes that the data collected by the Planning Department for the heat map may be looking more at a need for possible design changes or adjustments to traffic signals and not necessarily speeding issues.

Winquist said the most effective solution for speeding has been putting police officers out there in their cruisers.

“When they see us out there, they're thinking about it, they'll slow down and it's effective,” Winquist said. “The most effective way to deter speeding is to have high visibility.”

One common misconception Winquist pointed out at the meeting was the idea that stop signs should be used for reducing speed. Winquist said the purpose of stop signs is to direct rights-of-way and control the flow of traffic.

He said what usually happens is when a stop sign is placed to deter speeding, the next complaint is that people are driving through the stop signs.

“And then we're back out writing a lot of stop-sign violations,” Winquist said. “Which is fine, but it's not an effective tool.”

Speed bumps, which have also been used to address speeding, are not very effective either, because people learn where the bumps are and adapt, Winquist said.

He explained that drivers will accelerate up to the speed bump, then slow down and rev their engine as they go over the bump, and once they get over it, accelerate back to speed.

Winquist said roadways with wide lanes also tend to encourage speeding because they have a lot of room. He suggested that certain designs may help slow speed down like road narrowing.

 But at the end of the day, Winquist says, it also comes down to drivers being responsible.

“We can't be at every intersection. and we can't be on every roadway,” the chief said. “I think people have to change their driving behaviors, and [if] we have to write tickets, we will, but sometimes that's effective and sometimes it's not.”

Cranston’s top 6 speeding sites

Traffic stops for speeding since Jan 1.

Pippin Orchard Road: 213

Phenix Avenue: 167

Narragansett Boulevard: 159

Garfield Avenue: 114

Hope Road: 84

Budlong Road: 55