Politics & Government
Brief: FW Seeks to Slow 'Shady Lane Speedway'
About four weeks after Patch blogger Scott Sinclair raises concerns about traffic safety, the mayor and police chief meet with local residents.
Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr, Police Chief Richard Trigo and members of the Fanwood Borough Council met with about 60 residents at the on Monday night to discuss traffic safety on Shady Lane. The meeting took place roughly four weeks after Patch blogger Scott Sinclair on the treelined residential road, which connects South Martine Avenue in Fanwood with South Avenue in Scotch Plains.
Following a presentation by Sinclair, Trigo stated that a traffic study conducted by his department determined that cars' traveled an average of 24 mph on Shady Lane. The speed limit is 25 mph. However, about 1,800 vehicles travel Shady Lane every day, Mahr said at the Borough Council's regular monthly meeting Tuesday.
"The problem on Shady Lane isn't speeding, it's volume," Trigo said at the Monday meeting, according to a report on the borough's website.
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Mahr, Trigo council members and meeting attendees discussed a wide variety of options to reduce the number of vehicles that travel Shady Lane. Suggestions ranged from installing signs to converting the street into a dead-end.
As a first step, Trigo proposed restricting right turns onto Shady Lane and Poplar Place, one street north of Shady Lane, from northbound Martine Avenue; and restricting left turns from Shady Lane and Poplar Place onto Martine Avenue from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., when traffic is highest. Similar restrictions were in place about 30 years ago, Trigo said, but lapsed for reasons that remain unclear, according to the borough's website. The new restrictions will require an ordinance by the mayor and council.
Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Borough officials declined to set a timetable for the new restrictions. At Tuesday's meeting of the council, however, Mahr said, "They will see something happen. And if that doesn’t work, we will come back and we are commited to working with them to alliveate the pressures of 1,800 cars coming down that street. It’s just too much."
Residents have also formed a committee to monitor the process, according to the borough website.
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