Borough asks again for Mercer Street speed drop

The state Department of Transportation last month denied a request to make Mercer Street a 25-mph road.

By: Scott Morgan
   HIGHTSTOWN — Less than a month after the state rejected a request to lower the speed limit on Mercer Street, the borough will try again.
   A resolution passed at Monday’s Borough Council meeting formally requests the Department of Transportation lower the speed limit of Mercer Street’s 35-mph zone between Academy Street and Grape Run Road to 25 mph.
   The Department of Transportation rejected the borough’s request early last month, saying field investigation of the 35-mph zone showed no evidence of excessive speeding. According to DOT research, 85 percent of the traffic surveyed drove between 39 mph and 41 mph.
   Phyllis Deal, a member of the borough’s traffic committee, said she feels DOT missed the point. The borough is not concerned that there is no "excessive speeding," she said. Rather, she said, it seeks to establish a 25-mph limit because of heavy pedestrian and bicycle traffic on Mercer Street.
   She explained the borough contacted the Mercer County Board of Freeholders with their concerns and were advised to pass the resolution.