TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—Speeders take heed: radar signs to warn you to slow down and keep to the speed limit are going up on streets where local police know we tend to exceed the legal limit.
Township police selected East Glen Avenue, Van Emburgh Avenue, Colonial Road, Mountain Avenue, and Washington Avenue for the signs.
Police Chief Richard Skinner said that as of Jan. 25, at least five of the eight signs had been installed.
The WTPD has long been conducting surveys and radar details at speeding hot spots, and enforcing the speed limit, but problems have persisted, Skinner told Pascack Press on Jan 25.
The new signs flash the speed of the motorist, state the legal speed limit, and help warn the motorist to slow down.
Skinner said the signs were ordered from the 2020 capital budget and were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The signs will be fixed in place but can be moved when needed, he said.
He said that vehicles speeding is “a quality of life issue” and that these signs would alert motorists and enhance public safety.
On Facebook, Mayor Peter Calamari hailed the new signage, saying it will “make the town an even safer place and further improve the quality of life we enjoy by living in this great town.”
He said the signs serve to warn the driver that they may be exceeding the speed limit and “as an eye-catching visual reminder of the posted speed limit.”
The department took delivery of a mobile speed monitor and message board in 2018.
The WTPD notes on its website that unless otherwise designated by sign, the residential speed limit for all streets within the Township of Washington is 25 miles per hour. If there is no speed limit sign on a residential road, assume the speed limit is 25 per hour.
“During the last several years the Police Department has performed a large number of speed surveys on residential streets within the Township. We have found that a large majority of the motoring public maintain speeds that our close to the speed limit. However, there are motorist who insist on traveling at speeds which we consider to be unsafe,” the department says.
It adds, “On occasion, we find that these motorists live in on or within a few blocks of the road that they are speeding on. The Police Department will continue to perform speed surveys on our residential streets and violators will be prosecuted.”
UPDATE: After press time, Calamari posted on Township Voices on Facebook, in his thread on the new signs, “Thank you for your feedback, suggestions and support! At this time I am confident that our traffic officers have successfully identified seven popular locations within the township based on specific criteria.”
He said, “Just from seeing the comments on this thread, I am open to asking the council to fund the purchase of more of these signs in this year’s budget to accommodate more of the requests. As always we welcome your help in improving our community’s safety and all location requests can be emailed directly to the Police Department’s Traffic Officer at mglock@washtwppolice.org.
For more information, visit washtwppolice.org.