Traffic study addresses Bradford Woods speeding

Bradford Woods Council approved a traffic study on July 8 to address speeding in certain areas of the borough.

A group of residents presented concerns to council on perceived speeding near their homes, particularly Bradford Road. A list of 166 names was presented at the meeting of residents requesting traffic deterrence measures, said Ken Nichols, who lives on Bradford Road.

“A lot of people went to the borough council meeting and stated our position, and they were very open to things. We all want to work together at Bradford Woods, whether you’re walking or driving,” said Nichols, a former assistant chief with the Bradford Woods Volunteer Fire Company.

He said most of the borough’s roads are posted at either 15 or 25 mph, and that it seems drivers are traveling at 40 mph, and there are a lot of pedestrians in the area.

Northern Regional Police Department Chief John Sicilia said speeding is a problem elsewhere, as well.

“Unfortunately, Bradford Woods is no different than any other community we serve in which speeding is an issue. We get so many speeding complaints we have dedicated several officers to traffic enforcement only. We do our best to be proactive with traffic enforcement and keeping our neighborhoods safe,” Sicilia said.

In addition to Bradford Woods, his department services residents of Pine, Marshall, Richland and Seven Fields.

Bradford Woods Borough Manager Rusti Null said she is in the process of collecting quotes from traffic engineering firms to conduct a study.

“After hearing the residents’ concerns, council President Victoria Pongrace and borough solicitor Jake Leyland stated that the borough will have to engage a traffic engineer to perform a speed study and provide recommendations for corrective actions based on the results of the study,” Null said.

‘Notify NRPD’

An officer from the Northern Regional Police Department was present at the meeting and informed the residents of actions that have been taken in the past few months to reduce the incidence of speeding on Bradford Road, according to Null. The lieutenant also asked residents to call 911 to report speeding to the police so that they can investigate and direct their resources accordingly, she said.

Nichols thinks road closures and development, such as a new health center in neighboring Pine, have contributed to increased traffic through Bradford Woods.

Null said the only recent change that she is aware of that could create more traffic is on the east end of Bradford Road, where there is the temporary closure of the front entrance to The Woodlands Foundation property on Shenot Road. All traffic in and out of The Woodlands now goes through the Oak Road entrance, which is off of Bradford Road.

In the spring, other residents in the borough reported concerns about speeding on Seldom Seen Road in Bradford Woods, according to Null. She notified Northern Regional of the concerns, and police temporarily installed radar speed meters and stepped up patrols on that street.

“Those actions seem to have resolved the issue, as I haven’t been made aware of any concerns since then. Bradford Road is definitely the most traveled road in the borough, aside from Wexford Run Road, which is a state-maintained roadway,” Null said.

The traffic study is necessary for the council prior to approving any traffic modifications, she said.

At the July meeting, solicitor Leyland noted that because council members are not traffic engineers, they don’t have the credentials to determine, first, if there is an issue; second, if so, what control measures are necessary to fix the issue; and, third, where those controls should be located.

“The best temporary solution is for the residents to notify NRPD when they observe speeding vehicles, and for the NRPD to use that information to increase their patrols,” Null said.

‘We share our residents’ frustrations’

Nichols said he appreciates council members’ response and knows they are working hard to address the issue. But he hopes there could be a temporary solution while they wait for the study, such as speed cushions or additional stop signs along Bradford Road.

Sicilia said one major hurdle is the inability for municipal police departments to use radar, as Pennsylvania is the only state that prohibits such for traffic enforcement. Municipal police departments are forced to use speed timing devices such as VASCAR and must give offending motorists 10-mph leeway before making a traffic stop, he said.

VASCAR, or Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder, is when an officer monitoring traffic manually programs the distance of the two fixed points on the road. That officer flips a switch when a vehicle crosses one point and then flips it again at the second point. The unit calculates the speed, and the officer uses his or her discretion as to whether to make a traffic stop.

State traffic codes, though, indicate that a driver cannot be stopped for a violation until he or she exceeds the 10-mph threshold. Most neighborhoods have posted speed limits of 25 mph, so his officers cannot stop a speeder until they reach 35 mph, Sicilia said.

“When you are walking your dog or playing with your children in your front yard, 35 mph looks very fast,” he said. “We share our residents’ frustrations in not being able to enforce the speed limits more strictly. Regardless, we do our best to be visible and address the problem areas in our 50-plus-square-mile jurisdiction.”

Nichols acknowledged the hard work of the Northern Regional officers and said they are doing the best they can with all of the municipalities they have to cover.