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Residents urge traffic calming on Grandview and complain of late‑night practice at nearby gun range
Summary
Petitioners delivered signatures asking for a traffic study, speed humps, and flashing stop signs on Grandview Boulevard; separate residents asked council to address nighttime firearms practice at a gun club outside city limits that residents said disturbed children.
A group of Grandview Boulevard residents presented a petition to the Bethlehem City Council asking the city to study speeding and stop‑sign compliance and install traffic calming measures before planned street paving.
"We respectfully request a traffic study conducted as soon as possible," Terry Coiber said, reporting that 46 of about 61 houses signed the petition and listing intersections where flashing stop signs and removable humps were requested. Coiber said the study should precede paving work and called for protections for children and pedestrians.
Mary Jo McCool amplified those concerns, describing drag‑racing incidents and ignored stop signs on Grandview, Broad Street and Hanover Avenue and urging the city to deploy available tools such as electronic speed monitors, rumble strips or speed humps. "Do not wait for a death to happen and a possible lawsuit for negligent behavior," she said.
Council members pointed to longer‑term planning tools and a forthcoming Complete Streets plan to guide physical investment and noted the Citizen Traffic Advisory Committee meets monthly; staff agreed to provide links and further information.
Separately, several residents described disruptive nighttime firearms practice connected to the Steel City Gun Club. A caller who said she lives about a half‑mile from the club reported that training went past 10 p.m. on consecutive nights, frightening children and prompting multiple calls to Northampton County dispatch and Lower Saucon Township. That commenter urged the city to press for earlier cut‑offs or seek alternative indoor facilities for low‑light training.
Police and city officials responded that the gun range is outside Bethlehem city limits but that Bethlehem officers do use the facility under an agreement for qualifications and may practice there; department training is tracked and Northampton County dispatch is notified when department business is scheduled. Officials said after‑hours qualification is uncommon in late spring but that occasional low‑light classes can occur and that the department would check whether a qualifying class was held and would consider ways to improve advance notice to neighbors.
Council encouraged staff to forward information about the Citizen Traffic Advisory Committee and to coordinate next steps. Staff said the Complete Streets plan will identify candidate streets for infrastructure changes, and that physical changes can be expensive and require planning and funding.
