Traffic-calming committee is formed in Pennington

Members are borough Councilwoman Eileen Heinzel, police Director Bill Meytrott and residents Gus Rossi, Gerry Lax, Francine McManimon and Nancy Mollis

By John Tredrea
   A newly formed committee of Pennington Borough residents and officials will study ways in which traffic in town could be "calmed," in the parlance of traffic engineering.
   Traffic that has been calmed poses less threat to pedestrians and cyclists.
   Speed bumps, textured crosswalks and more striping on streets are expected to be among the traffic-calming tactics studied by the committee. The committee will make written recommendations to Borough Council after its study is complete.
   The committee was appointed by Pennington Mayor Tony Persichilli at Monday night’s regular council meeting. The members of the new group are borough Councilwoman Eileen Heinzel, police Director Bill Meytrott and residents Gus Rossi, Gerry Lax, Francine McManimon and Nancy Mollis.
   At council’s May meeting, a number of residents — most from King George Road, Burd Street and Abey Drive — said longstanding problems of unsafe driving in town need to be addressed.
   They told council that speeding and aggressive driving are primarily being done by out-of-towners, chiefly during morning and evening rush hours.
   Abey Drive residents said use of their street allows motorists to avoid the light at Main Street and Delaware Avenue. This fact, they noted, has created some safety issues.
   Other problem areas mentioned in May include: Route 31 at West Delaware Avenue and Burd Street, which — like Abey Drive — is a cut-through street.
   It was in response to those comments that the committee was formed. The residents who spoke at the May meeting said the borough Police Department has been responsive to complaints about speeding, running stop signs, passing stopped school buses, etc.
   However, the residents said, the pattern has been that problems gradually resurface after police presence is gone from the area that was the focus of the complaint.