West Orange Resident Warns Of Speeding On Forest Hill Road: Letter

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Editor’s Note: The following letter to the editor comes courtesy of West Orange resident Elena Pinto, in response to our article “2 Hours, 29 Traffic Tickets Near Edison Museum.”

“Thank you for your report regarding motorist violations near the Edison Museum. In writing you, I hope to bring attention to another area of West Orange with very serious speed concerns.

“My name’s Elena. I live on Forest Hill Road. The upgrade on this road is pretty steep. Many motorists use this road in order to avoid accessing 280 through Northfield Blvd.

“They cut through the resident streets to get a jump on the volume of cars heading that way, (especially during the morning and evening rush). My concern is the speed with which they travel up and down Forest Hill Rd.

“I have a speed detector app on my phone and managed to clocked cars traveling, both up and down the hill, at a speed of 51 mph. (That’s insane! Terribly irresponsible.)

“You can imagine the danger it’s posed to the residents and our children… Years have gone by and traffic on the hill between Gregory Ave. and South Valley Rd. has only increased as more and more motorists get wind of this short-cut.

“Yes, there have been accidents with residents leaving their driveways and a car is flying up the hill, and yes, pets have been fatally injured when a child accidentally opens a front door to go play and the family dog runs out with them.

“You see this road also curves. The chances of being able to stop a car traveling on this hill at speeds upwards of 45 mph from hitting someone is little to none because of the momentum of the downgrade, let alone the surprise of the curved road.

“I think you can see the picture. I thank you for listening. Besides sharing this with you, I don’t know what else I can do.”

Photo: Flickr Commons

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