Montgomery gets state to drop speed, but not as much as hoped.
By: Paul Sisolak
MONTGOMERY The 50-mph speed limit on a section of Route 206 in the northern part of the township may soon be reduced.
The Township Committee passed a resolution Thursday accepting a recommendation from the state Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit in the Harlingen business district to 45 mph.
The proposal came after the DOT conducted a series of road surveys and analyzed the speed of cars on Route 206, said Township Administrator Donato Nieman. The 45-mph suggestion was generated from the average speed of drivers in the 85th percentile of the study, he said.
Mr. Nieman said the committee in the past few months had hoped to cut the speed to 40 mph but will settle for a 5-mph reduction.
"(DOT) wants to maintain some sense of continuity," he said. "They also want to ensure traffic flow."
When traveling north into Montgomery on Route 206, the speed limit increases from 40 to 45 mph and then 50 mph at Orchard Road, remaining there until the Hillsborough border, when the limit is reduced to 40. The new speed reduction would extend from Rutland Road and Montfort Drive.
"The road narrows there and there’s a lot of cross traffic," Mr. Nieman said.
Mr. Nieman added the new speed limit will benefit emergency vehicles that battle traffic to exit onto Route 206 from Harlingen Road, where a new emergency signal will eventually be installed, he said.
He could not predict when new speed limit signs would replace the old ones, but said the resolution is being forwarded to the DOT. When approved by the state, the township will introduce an ordinance, he said.

