Township Committee May Lower Speed Limit on Valley Street

The Maplewood Township Committee is considering reducing the speed limit on Valley Street after passing two other ordinances regarding vehicles and traffic during Tuesday's public session.

An ordinance, which allows property owners on Village Terrace to have certain street parking privileges was unanimously adopted by the Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Under the ordinance, residents will be exempted from the current parking restrictions which limits parking to three hours between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on both sides of Villa Terrace from Valley Street to Raymond Terrace.

Villa Terrace residents must prominently display a permit issued by the township, according to the ordinance.

The Committee also unanimously passed a resolution changing the speed limit to 15 miles per hour for the entire length of Brook Lane. The change was made at the request of the township engineer, according to the ordiannce.

During Tuesday's meeting, the Township Committee also discussed lowering the speed limit of Valley Street from 35 to 25 miles per hour.

Mayor Victor De Luca met with the Valley Street Neighborhood Association back in May to discuss their concerns regarding traffic and speeding, he said.

Neighborhood Association Co-chair Camilla Zelevansky wrote a letter to the Township Committee and also attended Tuesday's meeting to request the change.

“Valley Street is a heavily trafficked pedestrian route as children, families, seniors and commuters walk along (there is no sidewalk from Crescent to Tuscan Road, east side) and cross at multiple points (including 11 curb cuts without crosswalks) as they head to and from Maplewood Park, the library, the train station and public schools including Tuscan Elementary, Maplewood Middle and Columbia High School,” she wrote.

Zelevansky cited a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which found that the average risk of severe injury to a pedestrian struck at an impact speed of 23 miles per hour is 25 percent but at 31 miles per hour, the risk doubles to 50 percent.

“A portion of the road is already 25 miles per hour during certain hours because of the school zone,” said De Luca. “Lowering the speed for the whole portion of Valley makes sense.”

De Luca also added that in discussing the change in speed limit with the county engineer, he was told that if the Township Committee passes an ordinance lowering the speed limit, that the county will pass an ordinance to complement it.

The section of Valley Street discussed would run from the South Orange Border to Millburn Ave.

The ordinance will be introduced on first reading during the Committee's Sept. 17 public meeting.