Cars drive past new business wayfinding signs on Main Street at Susquehanna Avenue in Lansdale on Wednesday, May 8 2024. Photo by Dan Sokil | The Reporter.
Lights, signs could slow drivers at downtown crossing
Changes could be in the works to a key intersection in Lansdale’s downtown.
Police Chief Mike Trail gave an update Wednesday night on a fresh look at a pedestrian crossing at Main Street and Susquehanna Avenue.
“Last meeting, we had a concerned resident come in, and also a business owner, who related that the pedestrian crossing at Susquehanna and Main Street is really underdeveloped,” said Trail.
The pedestrian crosswalk at Main and Susquehanna dates back to the summer of 2014, when the town’s federally funded Wood-Vine connector route meant to divert traffic away from the intersection of Main and Broad streets included the installation of a new four-way traffic light at Main and Wood, and removal of a traffic light at Main and Susquehanna when the latter was converted to one-way only. That one-way configuration was reversed on Susquehanna and the adjacent Courtland Street back to two-way traffic in 2023, with few issues on those two streets, but a business owner voiced worries in early February about drivers not stopping for those crossing Main.
During the public safety committee meeting on Wednesday night, Trail said he and the borough’s traffic engineer recently reevaluated the intersection at Main and Susquehanna, particularly the flashing lights above the roadway instead of those close to eye level at two newer crosswalks.
“We went out and did a site survey, and when you look at that ped(estrian) crossing, versus the standard across the borough, like at Whites Road Park and at Stony Creek Park, they’re much more robust,” he said.
The two crosswalks installed in 2020 at Whites Road and in 2023 at Stony Creek feature flashing lights closer to street level, triggered by push buttons and with arrows pointing to the striped crosswalk area.
“What we’re looking to do is, if you’re traveling on Main Street, westbound toward the Walgreens, there’s only one little digital LED (light) up top. So our thought is to redo that light, and do two (lights) up top, and then two lights on the verticals with signage” on the columns supporting those lights, Trail said.
The town’s traffic engineer is working with the town’s electric and public works staff to identify how much of that work can be done in-house, including restriping the roadway and installing any new lights.
“Since the poles are already in place, the infrastructure’s already there, it’s not a heavy lift,” Trail said – “We can do it at a pretty minimal cost.”
Councilman Andrew Carroll said he recalled the reactions from residents when the Susquehanna crossing first went live, and the reaction to the two newer crosswalks.
“I remember when that first went in, it was like a spaceship. And now you look at our other crosswalks, it’s already outdated,” he said.
Mayor Garry Herbert asked if the flashing lights were installed above the roadway due to truck traffic on Main, and Trail said that may have been a consideration, along with the costs of doing so. Any changes to that crosswalk would need to be approved by PennDOT, and staff will keep the public safety committee updated as those plans are finalized and vetted, the chief said.
A pedestrian walks past new business wayfinding signs on Main Street at Susquehanna Avenue in Lansdale on Wednesday, May 8 2024.Traffic talks to continue
Police and the traffic engineer are also vetting the latest update to a borough-wide traffic study first presented last fall, looking at side streets and bypass routes throughout the town.
“It arrives at the solutions we had talked about for each of the respective, given areas: a co-mingling of some signage to dissuade traffic from using certain roads, some speed humps, roadway improvements, and realigning of curbs are the recommendations,” he said.
Last October the town’s traffic engineer hosted a public meeting presenting the first findings in a long-discussed traffic study, looking at three sections of town where traffic and safety concerns had been raised, and showing traffic and safety data along with possible recommendations for new stop signs, road stripes, speed humps, and curb cuts. Feedback from that meeting has been incorporated into the latest draft, according to the chief, and the April meeting will likely include cost estimates for council to consider.
“Our goal is to include any of the roadway improvements into the capital plan for 2026,” he said.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on March 19 and the public safety committee next meets at 6:30 p.m. on April 2, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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