Force responds to citizen complaints
By: Cynthia Williamson
LAMBERTVILLE – If motorists speed in Lambertville, chances are they will be ticketed.
In response to residents’ complaints about speeding, Police Director Bruce Cocuzza said his department is cracking down on violators.
Last month, officers ticketed 92 motorists for speeding, doubling the Police Department’s monthly average of 40 to 50 tickets, the police director reported to City officials last week.
"We’ve stepped up local enforcement," Mr. Cocuzza said. "And we will continue to step up enforcement indefinitely."
Summonses for moving violations rose overall in October, increasing by 27 percent. There were 304 summonses compared to the same period in 1999 when officers issued 240 summonses for moving violations, Mr. Cocuzza reported. The 92 speeding tickets in October were included in the total 304 moving violations for the month.
In September, the reported figure was 115 summonses, which is less than half the 304 tickets officers issued in October. The summonses were for such violations as speeding, "failure to yield to pedestrians" and blocking intersections, Mr. Cocuzza said.
"Those were some of the major concerns expressed to me, and we’re doing what we can to rectify those concerns," he said. "I anticipate this surge will continue."
Most of the speeding tickets were issued to motorists traveling on routes 179 and 29 but police officers also "wrote a few up" on Quarry Street. Residents on the road have complained to city officials about speeding on the narrow, winding road, he said.
If found guilty, the fines for exceeding the speed limit range from $78 for between one and nine miles over the speed limit to $233 for between 30 and 34 miles over the speed limit. Motorists traveling 20 or more miles over the speed limit have a mandatory court appearance.
"I haven’t really gotten much feedback except from the mayor and council," Mr. Cocuzza said. "They liked the numbers as a whole."
The department has ordered a fifth radar unit for its "spare" police car, which will "give us full radar capabilities" in all our units, the police director said.
Lambertville’s quest to improve traffic safety conditions got an unexpected boost last week from Gov. Christie Whitman. The governor signed an executive order Nov. 14, banning large trucks from using Route 29 north of Interstate 95. The ban applies to trucks with a registered weight of 26,000 pounds or more, thereby prohibiting tractor-trailers and large trucks from the state road, which passes through Lambertville for about a mile.
The ban exempts trucks that have a starting point or destination within three miles of the section of Route 29 designated in the governor’s order.
The city also has taken measures to improve traffic conditions in Lambertville.
In May, the council voted to recommend the state Department of Transportation lower the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph along state-owned routes 179, 29 and 165 so the speed limit throughout Lambertville would be a uniform 25 miles per hour.
The city also has requested a public meeting with state DOT officials to address traffic circulation and traffic and pedestrian safety issues on the trio of state roads, particularly at the Route 518 and Bridge Street intersections.
The city has not heard from the state on either request, City Clerk Mary Elizabeth Sheppard said last week.
The council also has authorized spending $12,000 for the installation of two permanent speed "humps" on Union Street. The project will get under way in the spring although no decision has been reached about placement of the "traffic calming" devices, Mr. Cocuzza said.
In the months ahead, he said the Police Department will be embarking on "some type of public education" program, distributing flyers in the city’s central business district to alert motorists and pedestrians about traffic safety.
He said the flyers most likely would be distributed "during the holiday season" with help from the Town Watch group.
"We’ll be watching jaywalkers and motorists who fail to yield to pedestrians or block intersections, causing gridlock," the police director said.