City of Lambertville
c/o Dave DelVecchio
18 York St.
Lambertville, NJ 08530
RE: S. Franklin St. - Traffic Calming Measures
Meeting September 10, 2009
Dave:
The purpose of this correspondence is to express my dismay regarding the content provided by the City Engineer at the referenced meeting. Your August 24, 2009 letter stated that the City Engineer was completing preliminary plans for traffic calming measures on our street. To the contrary, the City Engineer proposed no such plans at the meeting. Instead, she and her colleague presented slides demonstrating various traffic calming measures. I appreciated the open forum and exchange of ideas, but for many of us residents present at the meeting this was quite trivial.
Please remember, the residents of S. Franklin St are the catalyst behind the current traffic calming efforts. We were successful in addressing our objectives related to the St. John cemetery pass through and concurrently focused our efforts toward traffic calming measures on our street. In March and April of this year we already brought DOT Regulations and the corresponding ITE Guidance to your attention. Shortly thereafter we worked with the City to obtain a funding source in the form of the DRJTBC in preparation for the assessment/implementation of traffic calming measures on our street.
Two days after your July 8, 2009 correspondence, we called to request "early buy-in" in the development of preliminary plans alongside the City Engineer for traffic calming measures on our street. At that point, it was clearly conveyed that we wanted preliminary plans for traffic calming measures in succession to address concerns at the top, middle and bottom of our street.
Since no plans were unveiled at the meeting, contrary to our wishes, please take note of the following:
- the consensus amongst the residents is that a speed table is the most appropriate measure at the top of the hill, north of Highland Ave. There appears to be a 450 foot run, from 93 S. Franklin St. to 115 S. Franklin St in which the grade is less than 8 percent, the recommended ceiling for speed humps in the ITE Guidance, not speed tables . The speed table is longer and lower in height than a speed hump and in most instances runs the entire width of the street. It will serve as an excellent means to calm traffic in that portion of our street. That portion is of particular concern because it is the area which houses the majority of the children living on the street.
- concerning the middle portion of our street, particularly between 69 S. Franklin St and 85 S. Franklin St, one bump-out on the either side, preferably the east side, of the street with appropriate signs and markings should suffice. Even though the grade is at a greater percent than at the top of the street, the bump-out will certainly serve as an adequate calming device for drivers to reduce their speed in that portion of the street.
The area in which we are asking for the City Engineer’s expertise is at the bottom of our street, south of the intersection at S. Franklin St and Swan St. Given that the driving area of the road narrows due to parking on the west side of the street and the grade in that area of the street is the steepest, we are anticipating the City Engineer’s plans for our concerns in that location.
Therefore, I would personally appreciate if you could please stop speed and traffic source surveys and ensure that the allotted grant money is spent on preparing the bid and, in turn, implementing the traffic calming measures at the top and middle of the street. Furthermore, can you also convey to the City Engineer that she should include what we, the residents, want in the recommendation. Our recommendations are not without reason and purpose. Finally, are you able to ensure that the City Engineer brings substance to the October 6, 2009 meeting, by proposing traffic calming measures at the bottom of our street?
There is no reason why the allotted grant money should be consumed on additional surveys and/or presentations conveying what we as residents already know about traffic concerns on our street.
In addition, please provide the following information, addressed to Steve Robbins at 65-D, S. Franklin St., on or prior to Friday, October 2, 2009:
- total engineering costs charged to our project as of the September 10th meeting
- results from the engineering survey depicting the elevations every 100 feet along S. Franklin St (i.e., Swan St to Highland Ave.)
Paul Gorecki
87 S. Franklin St.
PS: Your August 24, 2009 correspondence directed resident concerns via telephone and/or email through the City Clerk to Paul Cronce, Public Works Director. There does not appear to be a direct way to reach Paul via email. Is it possible to get Paul his own email address?
