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Residents and mayor push rapid traffic-calming after West Ward crash; petitioners present 335 signatures
Summary
Residents asked Lansdale to prioritize traffic calming after a serious crash at Delaware & Cannon; the mayor outlined near-term steps — in-house speed-hump training, targeted enforcement, speed-limit review and a GIS transparency project — and pledged continued collaboration with advocates.
Residents from the West Ward and traffic advocates pressed the Borough Council on Feb. 18 for immediate and lasting traffic-calming measures after a recent crash that seriously injured a child.
"No speed hump to slow him down, no 4 way stop sign to prompt drivers on Cannon to pause," said Shannon DeBellas, who described being first on the scene after a collision that injured a mother and two children. DeBellas, speaking for the Safeguards Lansdale coalition, recounted tending to the family until EMS arrived and urged the borough to pilot safety measures in the neighborhood.
A coalition speaker later reported that a petition circulated to Chief Devlin had collected 335 signatures calling for both immediate changes and long-term engineering solutions around York Avenue Elementary and other high-risk locations.
Mayor Rachel Boland responded to the calls for action with a list of near-term initiatives and an offer to accelerate implementation. She said public works is "looking at educating... how to do speed bumps in house," which she said could cut construction costs and speed installation, and noted the borough is pursuing grant funding for delineators and pedestrian improvements. She also said staff are reviewing the past five years of crash data to prioritize intersections and that the borough is pursuing a reduced speed limit on a portion of Main Street and scheduled radar enforcement with state police.
The mayor said the borough has already increased targeted enforcement in the West Ward and committed to a GIS project that would publicly map implemented and planned safety measures to increase transparency. "We can move faster," she said, urging working meetings with advocates to maintain momentum.
Speakers and council members stressed both enforcement and engineering: petitioners urged physical calming devices (speed humps, bump-outs, curb extensions and modal filters), while mayor and staff outlined enforcement, striping, and low-cost delineator options as near-term actions.
Council committed to additional working sessions with advocates, staff and state agencies to convert recommendations into prioritized, funded projects; some low-cost items, like enhanced stop bars and curb painting, were identified as work the borough can do in-house.
