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Green Tree council authorizes free traffic-engineering assessment after residents report speeding on School Street
Summary
After multiple residents raised safety concerns about speeding on School Street and other cut-through roads, the council voted to authorize the borough manager to arrange a free traffic-engineering assessment to study speed controls, sight lines and drainage and to produce cost estimates.
Green Tree Borough Council voted Aug. 4 to authorize the borough manager to engage a traffic-engineering firm identified in the meeting by residents to perform a free, on-site assessment of School Street and other streets cited for cut-through speeding.
The vote followed multiple public comments describing repeated speeding, unsafe sight lines and risks to children waiting at a bus stop. Resident Don Fingers said he had spoken with a traffic-engineering firm he named as David Brewster Company and summarized the firm’s concerns: site distances, drainage, driveway impacts and the physical dimensions and placement of speed humps. "Somebody's gonna get killed," Fingers said, urging an expedited review before school resumed.
Why it matters: Council members said the item was urgent because school starts soon and the public safety committee has received repeated complaints about several streets. The assessment is intended to identify feasible traffic controls, explain regulatory limits on hump size and placement, estimate asphalt and construction needs, and provide a cost estimate for any recommended work.
What the council authorized: Without committing borough funds, the council approved a resolution giving the borough manager authority to engage the traffic-engineering firm the resident named to do an initial, no-cost site investigation and return recommended next steps and cost estimates. Council members clarified the engagement is an assessment only; subsequent construction or sign purchases will require separate budget approval if they incur costs.
Discussion details: Residents recommended speed humps and a lower speed limit (one resident suggested 20 mph). Council members and staff noted that certain controls (for example, reducing posted speed or installing speed-limit radar signs) may require a traffic study or subscription services to capture enforcement data. The meeting record shows the borough previously deployed a digital speed sign; however, data collection required a one-year subscription that had lapsed.
Next steps: Public safety committee members said they will coordinate with the borough manager to schedule the engineer’s site visit and to compile a list of other streets that have raised complaints in recent months so they can be evaluated in the same assessment.
Ending: Councilors asked staff to prioritize scheduling the assessment so recommendations are available before the next meeting and before students return to school.
