New reduced speed limit sign posted on South Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

SALEM — The speed limit on South Lincoln Avenue has officially been reduced.

The change, which went into effect Friday, sees the speed limit reduced back to its previous state of 25 mph, beginning south of the school zone speed limit area and continuing south all the way to the city limits. The speed limit had been 35 mph.

Signage reflecting the change has already been posted, with the first speed limit sign upon crossing the railroad tracks and entering the city limits also having a bright orange and white striped “NEW” sign posted beneath it.

This comes in the wake of redoubled efforts by South Lincoln residents to have the speed limit reduced in recent months which have been championed by Councilman Evan Newman and have seen residents as young as 12 years old speaking out at meetings of the downtown and residential committees and at city council meetings since March.

This also follows the installation of a demo speed tracking sign monitoring traffic on South Lincoln in July, which not only tracked and recorded any instances of speeding, but the time of the infraction, categorizing them into groups of up to 10 mph over the speed limit, 10 to 20 mph over the speed limit, and more than 20 mph over the speed limit. In city council’s last meeting in July prior to its annual recess City Safety Service Director Joe Cappuzzello said that the data collected by the unit could help inform future traffic decisions, as well as help develop a predictive dataset that would help mitigate personnel and police overtime expenses associated with a potential reduction in speed limit.

Cappuzzello could not be reached for further comment on the change Friday evening.