Study points to need for traffic calming

by JAMES STURDIVANT

It doesn’t take an expert to know that Chestnut Hill has too many vehicles passing through its streets, but a recently-released traffic study may provide grist for the mill of those looking to find solutions to the problem. 

The study, which details the impact of the closure of Cresheim Valley Drive on Willow Grove Avenue and Winston Road, provided a starting point for discussions about traffic calming at a meeting last week between representatives of the Chestnut Hill Community Association and the Streets Department.

Cresheim Valley re-opened to traffic on April 28, nearly nine months after severe flooding undermined the road and forced a detour onto Willow Grove Avenue via Lincoln Drive.

Done by the Streets Department on seven successive days from April 12 to 18, the study measures traffic counts and average speed in hourly increments, taking into account temperature and whether the roads were wet or dry.

Bob Previdi, a CHCA board member and authority on transportation issues, summarized the results of the study at the association’s board of director’s meeting on Thursday.

“The counts are pretty alarming in a couple of areas,” he told the board, noting that traffic counts on Willow Grove went up 40 percent after the closing of Cresheim Valley, from 10,000 to 14,000 cars a day.

According to the study, during the morning and afternoon rush (between 7 and 10 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m.), there were between 1,000 and 1,200 cars per hour on Willow Grove Avenue at Crittenden Street. The busiest hour for traffic entering the city occurred on April 14 between 7 and 8 a.m., when 762 cars traveled westbound on Willow Grove. For cars leaving the city, the busiest hour was between 5 and 6 p.m. on April 13, when 671 cars were reported.

Hourly average speeds during the morning and afternoon rush ranged from 16 mph to 29 mph, with incoming (westbound) traffic tending to go faster. Average speeds for the morning inbound commute were all above the posted speed limit of 25 mph.

A second count, done over the same time period at Willow Grove and Crefeld Street, indicates that cars on the west side of Willow Grove Avenue drove slower on average. The contrast is especially dramatic during the morning commute, when average hourly speeds ranged from 18 to 21 miles an hour.       

“They behave better on the other side [of Germantown Avenue],” Previdi said in an interview. “The roads are narrower, there are more cars and more stops. Anything that reduces the lane width and creates a visual impediment to a straight shot is a traffic-calming measure.”

A third study indicates that speeding problems are a concern on Winston Road between Mermaid Lane and Willow Grove. A sensor at Winston and Moreland, a 25 mph zone, revealed that 85 percent of drivers speed on Winston, with 67.6 percent of total drivers exceeding 30 mph and more than one in 10 exceeding 40 mph. The speeding can be attributed to this portion of Winston’s being a wide “straight shot” with no stop signs, Previdi said.

At the April 27 meeting between Previdi, Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson and CHCA president Maxine Dornemann, a series of ideas were presented for instituting traffic-calming measures in Chestnut Hill. These include a bike lane for Winston Road, working with the Chestnut Hill District on installing “gateway” features (such as signs reminding drivers to drive safely) at entrance points to Chestnut Hill, a flashing 15 mph sign on Ardleigh by Jenks Elementary School, and new crosswalks.

“I have asked the commissioner if we could be a test-case in the city for traffic-calming issues,” Previdi told the board last week.

Former CHCA president Janine Dwyer said at the meeting that she had thought about a gateway sign. “It would say something like, ‘You are now entering Chestnut Hill. Please observe all laws of pedestrian and traffic safety.’ I would contribute money to that,” she said. 

Previdi added that public awareness campaigns such as “I drive 25 in Narberth [Pa.]” bumper stickers have proven successful.

One idea floated by Previdi would be to close the short stretch of Winston Road between Germantown Avenue and Mermaid Lane, forcing northbound traffic on Germantown Avenue to turn onto Mermaid before turning left onto Winston. As a traffic-calming measure, the move would prevent traffic from sweeping onto Winston at high speed, simplify traffic patterns along that stretch of Germantown Avenue and allow for pedestrian-oriented activities, such as a farmer’s market, to occupy that space.

“If the community likes that [idea], it could be put into the PennDOT contract by the end of the summer [as part of a planned improvement project] and cost nothing,” Previdi said.

Board member Mitchell Melton, a resident of Mermaid Lane, said that he thought the proposal would generate community opposition.   

Previdi reminded the board that Cresheim Valley’s reopening does not mean that Chestnut Hill’s traffic problems are cured, and that a long-term solution requires doing something about the large volume of commuter traffic using Chestnut Hill to escape the city.