Aiming to improve safety on Eggerts Crossing Road and Federal City Roadd, Lawrence Township Council has adopted a pair of ordinances to reduce the speed limit on the two streets to 35 miles per hour.
A speed study on Eggerts Crossing Road conducted by the Lawrence Township Police Department revealed that speeds ranged from 33 to 36 miles per hour. The speed limit – except in the Lawrence Intermediate School zone – is 40 miles per hour.
The speed limit on Eggerts Crossing Road will remain at 25 miles per hour in the school zone when students are present.
The posted speed limit on Federal City Road varies from 45 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour on stretches of the road between the Lawrenceville-Pennington Road in Lawrence Township and I-295 in Ewing Township.
The speed limit on Federal City Road is 45 miles per hour in Lawrence Township and 35 miles per hour in Ewing Township. The ordinance makes the speed limit consistent at 35 miles per hour on all of Federal City Road.
“In response to safety concerns regarding the 45-miles-per-hour speed limit in Lawrence, an evaluation was completed to determine if it would be appropriate to lower the speed limit in Lawrence and provide for a consistent speed limit of 35 miles per hour,” according to a memorandum from Municipal Engineer James Parvesse.
The evaluation, conducted by the Lawrence Township Police Department, revealed an average of nine car crashes per year between 2016 and 2018. The majority of cars were traveling between 38 miles per hour and 47 miles per hour.
Parvesse wrote to Lawrence Township Council that he would recommend setting the speed limit at 35 miles per hour on Federal City Road in its entirety, based on his review of the existing speed limits, crash data, crash statistics, roadway characteristics and the adjacent residential uses.
“I believe this is a reasonable and safe speed, based on the conditions found along this section of Federal City Road,” Parvesse wrote.