Traffic Calming Measures Weighed In Falls Twp.

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — The Falls Township Supervisors put the pedal to the metal on strategies to slow down traffic, while pumping the brakes on recommended traffic calming tactics during Monday night’s meeting.

Supervisors authorized advertisement to amend the code as it relates to vehicles and traffic.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 26 to consider plans to add a multi-way stop sign at the intersection of Thornridge Drive and Teaberry Lane in the Thornridge section of town.

The board also mulled three separate recommendations from the Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee related to traffic calming.

Ultimately, Supervisors took no action on the committee’s recommendations, which included adding a double center yellow striping and single white edging painted on Austin Drive between Elmwood Road and North Olds Boulevard; installing speed cushions on Stanford Road temporarily until the culvert replacement concludes on South Olds Boulevard; and undertaking a safety audit on Makefield Road from Woolston Drive to Hedgerow Drive.

“There’s a whole lot of stuff you can’t really do without the whole neighborhood getting on board,” Supervisors Chairman Jeff Dence said, noting that the board had previously considered modifications to Austin Drive. “We got a lot of negative feedback that they didn’t want us to stripe it.”

Speed bumps — or cushions — pose problems for emergency responders. In addition, drivers tend to “slow down to them and speed away from them,” Dence said.

Instead of adding speed cushions on Stanford Road, Dence suggested that police install a flashing speed limit sign to help drivers recognize how fast they are traveling.

Township engineer Joseph Jones said that the South Olds Boulevard culvert replacement project was supposed to conclude in October.

However, an issue with the foundation design called for a re-evaluation and an opportunity to save money, which ultimately delayed construction. Jones said he anticipates the project’s conclusion before Thanksgiving.

Township Manager John Shepherd said staff would look into the possibility of the traffic calming measures that the committee had suggested and report back to the governing body.