Long-awaited look at traffic troubles nearly done
A long-discussed traffic study looking at trouble spots throughout Lansdale is not ready for the public yet, but will be soon.
“I had in my hands this week a draft version of the traffic study,” said Police Chief Mike Trail.
“A lot of the suspicions that we made broadly in our conversations, about high traffic volumes, cut-throughs, they’ve been pretty much validated by the study,” he said.
For several years, council and its public safety committee have heard complaints about traffic throughout town, and about drivers speeding and ignoring stop signs on the town’s side streets, from those bypassing congestion on Main and Broad streets related to the rail crossing at the center of town.
In early February Trail showed a formal route his department had identified with the town’s traffic engineer, consisting of Norway, Sycamore and Lombardy Drives, Laurel Lane, Hancock Street and Delaware, Derstine and Columbia avenues, all of which drivers have been observed using to get as a shortcut to get around backups on Main Street.
Council authorized the formal study in mid-February, in April the chief said data collection had started, and in May he said one section had been counted, then in June residents along the route showed videos of close calls between speeding cars and kids on those streets.
During the Sept. 4 public safety committee meeting, Trail gave an update, saying the town's traffic engineer had shown police a first draft of their study, and the numbers counted by the engineer show the problems residents had reiterated.
"Up on the east end of town with Lombardy and Sycamore and Norway Drive, the numbers clearly indicate there's a lot of pressure on those roads, in rush hour traffic. They carry a lot more volume than they should," he said.
"You can follow it through the map, through all of the streets, the traffic flow as it makes its way through the borough. We wanted to make sure, is this really true, or is this something anecdotal? The numbers are in, there's validity to it," Trail said.
A speeding car, center left, hits a parked car on Oakland Avenue in Lansdale in May 2024.Proposals that could be recommended in the study include speed humps, signs to redirect traffic, and other measures that could include changes to curbs or chicanes, extensions of curbs into the roadway meant to slow traffic, the chief told the committee. A draft presentation based on the study findings has totaled 90 slides, and police and the engineer are working on consolidating that presentation before the public sees it.
"I'm happy with what came back from the study: it's a very comprehensive, holistic approach, that will definitely address some of the issues," he said.
"Is it perfect? No. Does it address every issue? No. But it's a start," Trail said.
Spring greenery can be seen on Delaware Avenue at Richardson Avenue, along a route to be studied by Lansdale police for speeding and traffic concerns, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.Early plans are for the borough council's public safety committee to see and hear that report when they next meet on Oct. 2, and the report to be posted after that meeting; the police and public works departments could also hold a separate public townhall to present the study and field feedback on the findings, according to the chief. Mayor Garry Herbert added that all of the input will likely play into the town's budget talks for 2025 this fall, and the chief said the costs of various upgrades and tactics will be considered, and the town could seek grants to fund some of the fixes.
"Some things are cheap: signs are relatively cheap. Chicanes and curb cuts, they're not cheap," he said.
Herbert then asked if the report recommends speed humps that are attached to roadways by bolts or other mechanical means, or changes to raise or create humps in the roadway surface itself, and Trail said specifics will be spelled out in the report, along with cost estimates and possible downsides, like added difficulty plowing roads with those humps installed.
"I'm just glad we got to this moment. It's been three or four years of waiting," Herbert said.
Committee chairwoman Meg Currie Teoh added that she hopes those who live along the route read the study carefully once it's made public, and bring plenty of questions and suggestions.
"What we're looking at doing is having a separate meeting, bringing in some of the other committees, and having a broader conversation, so everyone in the public has time to really dive into this, because it's such a large presentation, and there's so much information that so many folks in the borough have been waiting for," she said.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18 and the public safety committee next meets at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 2, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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