LAMBERTVILLE: South Franklin residents fed up with speeders

Mayor David Del Vecchio said city will maintain a police presence on South Franklin to deter speeders

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — Usually no one wants to enter a cemetery a minute before they have to, but motorists are driving past gravestones in a local cemetery as they seek a shortcut.
   The situation has prompted complaints from South Franklin Street residents, who are concerned about vehicles speeding down their steep road as they leave the cemetery, owned by St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church. The speed limit on South Franklin is 25 mph.
   The residents have asked the city to do something about it. This is their second request in two years.
   ”Some time ago, we residents submitted a petition to the city signed by most, if not all, residents along the street, asking them to do something about the speeding,” resident Steve Robbins said.
   Mayor David Del Vecchio said the city will maintain a police presence on South Franklin to deter speeders. Usually, with a visible police presence on a street, “they do get people to slow down,” he said.
   Also, the city is consulting engineer Christine Ballard to determine if traffic-calming measures can be employed. An earlier opinion from city engineer Bob Clerico determined they could not be, with the road’s grade contributing to the problem.
   Ms. Ballard will bring “another set of eyes looking at it to see if there’s anything we can do,” Mayor Del Vecchio said.
   Public Works Director Paul Cronce will contact the church and ask that the cemetery gates be shut at certain times to discourage drivers from using the cemetery as a shortcut.
   Lastly, the mayor said, Mr. Cronce has conveyed the residents’ concerns to the Woodcrest Homeowners Association. Some drivers may be using the Woodcrest condominium development’s back entrance to go from Highland Street to South Franklin Street. The back entrance is supposed to be used only by emergency and construction vehicles, according to the mayor.
   Mr. Robbins said he does not believe any of the above measures will solve the problem, except possibly traffic-calming measures.
   He said, “I think the way to solve it is by strategically installing some form of traffic-calming measures on South Franklin, whether location-appropriate speed bumps or some other form of traffic-calming method. One possibility might be rumble strip placements, across the street.”