School zone is first area to see barricades, traffic cones
Borough officials last week reported latest steps that have resulted from the town’s long-running road safety conversation, including some fixes already being tested.
“We have had, in the west ward, about 60 traffic stops in the last 30 days, from the last public safety meeting,” said police Lieutenant Adrienne Gori.
“They’re out there doing their traffic details, writing the parking tickets, and the speed studies are underway,” she said.
In early February residents from that ward petitioned council for road and sidewalk safety improvements, the continuation of several years of complaints about traffic throughout town and drivers speeding and ignoring stop signs on the town’s side streets. Residents have continued to raise concerns as several accidents have happened along those studied streets in recent years. In February, those residents continued to ask council for fast fixes in the area, and council and police vowed to meet with the group to find areas where they could act quickly.
During the public safety committee meeting last Wednesday night, Gori reported on what’s happened since.
“Also included in that is some pedestrian measures that we’re trying out at York Avenue Elementary School. Starting [Thursday] you’ll see barricades,” meant to reduce traffic flow near that school to one way only during peak hours, Gori said.
“We’re going to try some different measures, see what works best, and go from there,” she said.
During a visit to York Avenue on Friday afternoon, white-and-orange police barricades could be seen stationed at the crosswalks near the school zone, as kids sprinted — and occasionally skidded through the mud — away from the school toward their parents. As they did so, crossing guard Larry Spites said the fixes so far had made a difference, but more was left to do.
“I have them come flying up here, I stop them, and say ‘You’re going too fast.’ They say, ‘No, you cannot stop me, you’re not a police officer,’ and I say ‘As long as I’m out here with this stop sign, I’m a police officer.’ And turn signals, nobody knows what a turn signal is out here. But it’s gotten better,” Spites said.
Since the last round of pleas from residents, police have also deployed radar and speed detection signs in the west ward neighborhoods and are gathering that data into an updated study, while also increasing parking enforcement in that area.
“Parking within 30 feet of a stop sign, and 20 feet of a crosswalk, are now up in the top tier category of the parking violations we’ve seen in the last 30 days,” she said.
Code committee chairwoman Rafia Razzak said she, Mayor Rachael Bollens, and police are planning to meet with members of the public safety committee and residents in that area about steps they can all take to show results soon.
“As soon as we get that done, we hope to find a solution collectively,” Razzak said.
Several residents then sounded off about the traffic study data and planned changes, with suggestions on what they’d like to see happen next. Geary Kochorsporger asked if police had historical data on the numbers of traffic stops and citations in the study area, and Gori said police would provide that info for residents.
Karalyn Derstine, a leader of the ‘SAFE Guards of Lansdale’ neighbor group, said the barricades were a welcome addition, but too late to avoid a close call she had week.
“I’m here to share my thanks and appreciation, and I think many of us share our thanks and appreciation, for the leadership and swiftness that you have been showing, as Lansdale has started to address these long term concerns,” she said.
Mary McNulty of Derstine Avenue said she knew another spot that could use more enforcement: the corner of Derstine and Towamencin Avenues.
“You’d rake in money. Derstine is an optional stop sign most days, and during rush hour,” she said. Another area of concern she’s noted falls outside the west ward where neighbors have mobilized lately: the intersection of Main Street and Lansdale Avenue.
“I personally was hit in that intersection, in the crosswalk, by a school bus on the wrong side of the road. People ignore that area, because those (pedestrian crossing) signs with blinking lights, if the sun’s hitting it in the morning, you really don’t see them,” she said.
“I have been driving down Main Street, with people beeping behind me because I’m going 15 miles per hour, and when I cross the street at Lansdale Avenue they go around me, during an active school zone,” McNulty said: “Something has to be done there.”
Dominic Frascella asked if police could increase enforcement of parking prohibitions against abandoned and/or oversize vehicles like campers or trailers to free up parking in that ward, and Gori said police would look into doing so. The resident then asked if police could look into reducing the speed limit on parts of Main Street from 35 miles per hour down to 25, and Razzak and councilman Andrew Carroll said police have started talks with PennDOT about reducing that speed limit to 30, then still lower.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on March 18 and the public safety committee next meets at 6:30 p.m. on April 1, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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