Hanover committee adopts three ordinances after residents dispute speed-hump plan

The Hanover Township Committee on July 11 adopted Ordinances 15-2024, 16-2024 and 17-2024 following a public hearing in which residents urged alternatives to speed humps and township officials defended a planned consultant-led, neighborhood-wide traffic-calming program.

At the hearing, resident Dean Atkinson of 70 Mountain Avenue said he was "not in favor of speed bumps" and preferred "more police and more police presence," adding that Mountain Avenue has many walkers and bicyclists and that humps could create new safety problems. He asked which streets were planned for the devices and whether Summit, South Bel Air or Bel Air would be included.

Township staff and committee members said the plan is to hire a consultant to review the entire neighborhood and to recommend measures based on available funding rather than installing traffic-calming on only two streets, which officials said could divert traffic to parallel roads. One official described five earlier recommendations, two of which were implemented and proved ineffective; the official said, "The speed bumps that we've learned addresses the outlier of the study," and that properly designed humps are intended to reduce very high speeds that pose the greatest risk to pedestrians.

Committee members cited experience on McNabb, where timed speed humps were credited with reducing average speeds into the mid-20s to just under 30 mph and producing sustained improvements over several years. Officials also flagged design considerations for pedestrian access, saying humps would typically be set back from curbs to accommodate drainage and walking paths and that the final design would be reviewed with the consultant.

After discussion the committee closed the public hearing, moved to adopt the three ordinances and recorded roll-call approval. The clerk announced the ordinances were adopted.

The planning board chair, Peter De Negres, had sent a July 10 letter stating Ordinance 16-2024 is consistent with the housing element of the master plan, and that board recommended adoption.

The committee said residents will continue to receive information on the neighborhood traffic study and design details once the consultants recommendations are available.

Next steps: the ordinances are effective per municipal process; implementation details (exact street list and final designs) will be decided later and presented to the public.