Newark council orders quick study and short-term fixes after two student deaths on Main Street

Newark Mayor Travis McDermott and the City Council on May 12 directed staff to accelerate a package of short-term and long-term safety measures for Main Street after two pedestrian deaths this school year and other serious incidents.

The move follows a city manager presentation of speed-study data showing that certain blocks of Main Street have frequent high outlier speeds — including one detected vehicle at 82 mph — and that the corridor’s 85th-percentile speeds exceed posted limits at the eastern end. City Manager Tom Coleman asked the council to “direct staff to work with DelDOT, Aetna, and UD to develop recommendations for council consideration” and to return with options the council could implement this summer, as well as a longer-term plan.

City officials said the impetus for the accelerated work is the recent deadly incidents involving fleeing suspects, and the immediate goal is to reduce speeds, improve sightlines and protect pedestrians while more comprehensive changes are developed. Coleman told the council he had activated “your speed” radar signs and that staff had identified curb and tree trimming, daylighting of crosswalks, and removal of 8–10 parking stalls near crosswalks as near-term actions. He also recommended requesting state legislative changes to allow speed cameras in mixed-use commercial corridors and to lower the state’s 11-mph-over citation threshold for downtown settings.

City staff presented weeklong speed-study results from two locations so far. East of Tire Avenue the 50th-percentile (median) speed was 24.5 mph and the 85th-percentile was 30.7 mph; during that week the city recorded 45,491 vehicles, 7,941 of which exceeded 30 mph and 305 of which exceeded 40 mph. At Center Street the corridor was slower: median speed 13.9 mph and 85th-percentile 19.2 mph, with far fewer high-speed outliers. Coleman said data collection at a third location was under way and that the council should expect a fuller corridor analysis before the fall semester.

Council members and first responders urged a mix of short-term engineering, enforcement and educational steps. Councilwoman Victoria Ford said bollards and “speed tables” should be considered; Councilman Daniel Mulhern asked staff to compile a public accounting of all fees and waivers the city has provided for a nearby affordable-housing project to show the city’s overall contribution; and several council members asked the city to press state officials to amend camera law and to seek stiffer penalties for fleeing in a vehicle.

Fire Chief John Guzzo and police and university representatives told council that while engineering can reduce ordinary speeding, the small share of drivers who flee from police pose a different enforcement and criminal-justice problem. Guzzo emphasized response-time concerns and warned that some traffic-calming options (notably traditional speed humps) can impede emergency vehicles. He said speed cameras, bollards and clearer crosswalks were promising tools.

Public commenters — including graduate student-government leaders, neighborhood advocates and bike-safety advocates — urged rapid action on visible changes such as removing obstructing parking stalls, adjusting signal timing, adding bollards and deploying speed cameras where permitted.

Council members voiced broad support for Coleman’s proposed path: ask staff to coordinate with DelDOT, the University of Delaware and Aetna Hose & Ladder Company, pursue short-term measures that can be deployed before students return, amend the city’s bond-bill request to fund identified improvements, and seek legislative changes to permit camera deployment and lower the allowable camera threshold in downtown areas. Coleman said he would return with recommendations to council in June so the city could pursue summer implementation where possible.

Short-term measures identified by staff that could be implemented this summer include trimming trees to improve sightlines, relocating or eliminating specific parking spaces to daylight crosswalks, recalibrating signal timing, adding or relocating “your speed” radar signs, and piloting removable bollards or planters at specific crosswalks. Long-term options to be studied include corridor redesign (lane widths, curb extensions and permanent protective streetscape elements), potential partial pedestrianization of segments, and coordinated signalization.

Council members stressed the need to evaluate unintended consequences of any changes — including effects on emergency response, traffic diversion to other streets (such as Cleveland Avenue or New London Road), and impacts to downtown businesses — and asked staff to include those assessments in the June report.

The council’s direction was procedural rather than a formal ordinance or appropriation; members expressed consensus support for the staff-led planning effort and for seeking legislative assistance.