Speeding down the Line
Speeds as high as 80 mph seen on Line Street
LANSDALE >> The numbers are in, and could lead to action.
Borough officials heard last week about a traffic speed study on Line Street, and a frighteningly high number that police hope they don’t see again anytime soon.
“I’m sure it’s been top of mind for folks, with a couple of nasty accidents recently at the vicinity of Seventh and Line, and the surrounding blocks,” said councilwoman Meg Currie Teoh.
“We did get those speed study results back, and the data does confirm that the average speed in that area is extremely high,” she said.
Council’s public safety committee, which Teoh chairs, has discussed speeding in that area of the borough in recent months, and tasked the town’s police department with studying the speeds of drivers there.
“Average speed is 36 miles per hour, which is 11 miles per hour over the posted speed limit,” she said.
“And the fastest clocked speed was, horrifyingly, 80 miles an hour — cruisin’ down Line Street,” Teoh said.
Where Line continues north from Lansdale into Hatfield Township, the speed limit increases, from 25 miles per hour on the Lansdale side to 35 on the Hatfield side.
“Not 80, but it is 35 over there. So we’re reaching out to coordinate a little bit, to see if we can make sure people know the speed limit drops,” she said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a 25 miles-per-hour speed limit sign is posted on the Lansdale side for drivers heading northbound, and an identical sign with a “Your Speed” counter below is posted on the southbound side, just south of signs indicating the township and borough borders.
Police have also stepped up their enforcement in that area, using feedback from neighbors on where best to look, she added. Current plans are to continue monitoring speeding for about 90 days, then make decisions on changing the speed limit based on those results.
“Then we’ll go back, and see if it had an impact, and take it from there. Hopefully, we’ll slow things down over there,” she said.
Councilman Leon Angelichio added one other trouble spot where he’s seen police out in force recently, thanking police Chief Mike Trail for increased patrols in the area of Squirrel Lane and Edgemont Avenue.
“It has helped. I’d love to get a count of how many cars blow through that stop sign,” he said.
That intersection also borders Hatfield Township, and Angelichio said he hoped talks between the two towns can proceed “and solve a problem we definitely have.”
Teoh added that the public safety committee also heard comments from the public about “the various traffic challenges across the borough,” including what she called “perceived speeding” on Whites Road. Formal traffic counts and suggested fixes could be made in a borough-wide traffic study that police are currently undertaking.
“I think it’s safe to say a lot of folks are really looking forward to the full, comprehensive speed study, when we get that complete, and recommendations come out of that,” she said.
Lansdale borough council next meets at 7 p.m. July 21 and the public safety committee next meets at 6:15 p.m. Aug. 4, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine St. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.