LENOX — With the heaviest traffic and the greatest influx of summer visitors expected during the holiday weekend, local police are expanding their patrols, especially along the Route 7/20 bypass and the Pittsfield Road commercial district.

“We’ll be out there,” Lenox Police Chief Mark L. Smith said. With radar units at the ready, the police force will be attempting to slow down rampant speeding on the state highway, often described as a speedway.

Route 7/20 has a 40-mph limit in the heavily congested business area, rising to 45 mph and then 55 mph on the divided-roadway bypass.

“I think the stepped-up enforcement is beginning to work,” said Smith. “Our cruisers have been out there far more, and even just the sight of us slows traffic down. There have been plenty of enforcement actions,” including his own intercepts of several speeding motorists every day on his way to work.

He described the existing posted speed limits as “plenty fast, we just need to slow down and enjoy the view.” Smith also has applied to the state for traffic enforcement grants to fund additional patrols at no cost to the town.

“The ticket is the last resort, it’s a heartache to pay that plus what it does to insurance for years,” he pointed out. “Don’t put us in the position that we have to write a ticket, just do us a favor and slow down. But if you do something egregious, you’re going to get a ticket.”

Starting this month, the computer system at the Lenox public safety complex will be connected to the Berkshire Regional Emergency Communications Center record management system to enhance tracking of traffic data. “This is a big step for us,” said Smith.

There will also be a new mobile speed trailer to monitor traffic on Pittsfield Road, East Street and Housatonic Street, where speeding is rampant. The trailer will be moved around “to keep people guessing,” Smith said. Those units display the posted speed limit, the actual speed of each vehicle, and an electronic warning to slow down.

The Pittsfield Road section of the state highway is among the county’s most heavily traveled local roadways, with nearly 26,000 vehicles per day on a year-round average, rising to more than 30,000 during the summer tourism season, according to MassDOT surveys — second only to the MassPike section through Berkshire County.

Road safety has been a frequent subject at Town Hall, as Select Board member Neal Maxymillian has cited Pittsfield Road speeding as “terrible.”

"I’ve raised my own concerns about this many, many times," he said in response to a Pittsfield Road resident.

Last year, just ahead of peak tourism season, Maxymillian pointed out that “it's a road I drive four times a day north and south. No one drives the speed limit, and in the summer at least 50 percent of the cars are from out of state. I can't help what I see every day — accidents, lanes closed, police out there.”

Approaching his seven-month anniversary since he succeeded Police Chief Stephen E. O’Brien, who retired Dec. 5, Smith said the support he has received from the town “as the new guy has been amazing.”

He singled out Town Manager Jay Green as “phenomenal” in his support, as well as DPW Superintendent Bill Gop and Fire Chief Robert Casucci, among others.

“That has made the transition for me very easy,” Smith said. “I’ve never experienced anything like it. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better scenario for my career. The officers here have been awesome.”