MOORESTOWN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Driving conditions are challenging enough following the nor'easter that slammed the region. Add speeding, and it could become a recipe for disaster. One community is aiming to crack down on the problem.
Drivers speeding through the streets of Moorestown, New Jersey is a problem, according to Mayor Nicole Gillespie.
"There's a neighborhood that is at the intersection of two of our busiest streets in town and during rush hour people often cut through that neighborhood," she detailed. Making matters worse, she added, "[There are] no sidewalks in that neighborhood and people park on the streets, so when cars cut through there they drive quite fast."
Councilman Quinton Law said speeding has been at the top of most residents' complaints.
"Some people have issues with speeding that comes off from busy roads," he said. "Some people have issues with speeding that happens in more private secluded neighborhoods."
Gillespie said when residents sound off on speeding the first thing they ask for is for speed limits to be lowered. However, she said that doesn't always work.
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"Unfortunately, just changing the speed limit rarely changes people's behavior," she said, "because drivers tend to drive as fast as seems practical and safe to them, so we need to get a better understanding of where the speeding hot spots are."
That's why Gillespie and Law are hosting a virtual listening session Monday at 7 p.m. to work on a better solution.
"What we're going to be looking to do is to implement what's called traffic calming solutions," said Gillespie.
"These are things like changing the striping on the roads, or perhaps changing the curbing or the crosswalks that give visual cues to drivers to let them know that they need to be driving slowly."
Gillespie said traffic calming creates safer streets for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.
"One example of a traffic calming measure is called a road diet," she explained, "and that just means you narrow down the travel lanes which gives drivers that visual cue that they need to slow down."
Law added that with the snow season among us, "Now more than ever we have to make sure that we are cautious about speeding and gain a better understanding of where these issues are and calm traffic around our community."