Traffic-calming measures pursued in Peters Township
A traffic count will take place on Stonebook Drive in Peters Township in response to a petition filed by neighborhood residents.
Township council members approved the count during their May 29 meeting, scheduling it for the latter part of September.
A petition signed by 29 residents of Stonebrook and neighboring streets seeks traffic-calming measures to deter motorists from speeding. A letter accompanying the petition links activities at nearby St. Benedict the Abbot Church to an influx of vehicles exceeding the limit.
“The timing of the study in this area will be critical,” the letter, written by Stonebrook Drive resident Scott Fazzone, states. “The busiest days of traffic are generally Wednesday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning.”
Council member Frank Arcuri, who also is a Stonebrook resident and signed the petition, cited a tendency for traffic problems when Confraternity of Christian Doctrine instruction for children is held at the church. Because CCD classes have wrapped up with the end of the school year, he suggested that the traffic count occur after they resume.
He has noticed an increased police presence on busy days at the church, which seems to help keep vehicle speeds in check, he said.
Fazzone’s letter expresses safety concerns for pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists and particularly for youngsters:
“The number of small children on our street has increased significantly over the past five years and is still growing as this neighborhood is turning over and becoming younger,” and some of the children have special needs.
Township manager Paul Lauer said that past counts on Stonebrook Drive did not qualify the street for traffic-calming measures.
In other business at the May 29 meeting:
- Council approved an agreement with Peters Township School District to expand the presence of school resource officers.
“There’s a real interest in expanding the school resource officer program to the middle school,” Lauer said. The police department has assigned an officer to the high school since 2012.
The agreement continues the practice of the school district paying for 75 percent of the costs, or $168,111 for the 2018-19 academic year, associated with having a police presence in both the schools. The township assumes the remainder, with the officers performing regular police duties when school is not in session.
School resource officers are employees of the Peters Township Police Department, with their assignments given by Chief Douglas Grimes.
- Another agreement with the school district was approved by council, establishing terms and conditions related to the design and construction of the road to be built through the former Rolling Hills Country Club property.
The township and district are sharing equally in the cost, which is estimated at more than $7 million. The road will serve a new high school, targeted for completion by the start of the 2020-21 academic year, and a municipal park for which plans are in the developmental stage.
Arcuri voted against the agreement, citing a disparity in the scopes of the two projects.
“It doesn’t seem fair to me that we should eat half these costs,” he said. “What’s driving this is the school district, is the school, not so much the park.”
Lauer gave his opinion that the arrangement is fair.
“When the township and the school district decided to acquire this property and develop it for a 90-acre community park and a school, I think it’s decision to do this on a joint basis that creates the need for that roadway,” he said, noting that how much each entity contributes lacks relevance at the core. “If half of the cost is ours and half is theirs, or three-quarters and one-quarter, it doesn’t change the fact that people in this community are going to pay for the whole thing.”