Residents urge lower speed limit and renewed study after school-bus crash on Kingwood Avenue

Residents from Frenchtown urged the Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners on March 17 to lower the posted speed limit and take additional traffic-calming steps on Kingwood Avenue after a December crash that struck a stopped school bus.

Multiple speakers during the board’s two-minute public-comment period described safety problems along County Road 610 (Kingwood Avenue) between Ward Street and Ridge Road. Arvin Zamorodi, who said he lives at 47 Kingwood Avenue, presented signed petitions and called on the county to reduce the posted speed from 35 mph to 25 mph along a roughly 1,400-foot residential stretch, saying a driver who rear-ended a stopped school bus on Dec. 15 was traveling at “35 to 40 miles per hour” and later pleaded guilty to careless driving in municipal court. “The bus had its warning lights on, its stop sign deployed, and there were 22 children on board,” Zamorodi said.

Maggie Cook, a parent who said one of her children was on that bus, described limited sidewalks and crosswalks and said drivers “see that 35 mile per hour, and they just go.” She asked the board to remove ambiguity about where the higher limit applies and to make the road safer for pedestrians and school children.

Deputy county staff and the director told the board they are aware of prior speed studies dating to 2004 and subsequent counts, and that the county has previously funded flashing beacons and restriping. Staff said the county will continue coordinating with the Borough of Frenchtown, that the flashing beacons for an enhanced crosswalk have been ordered, and that a renewed traffic study will be placed on a future board agenda for review with borough officials.

Why it matters: Residents said the existing posted speed and roadway context—dense driveway frequency, high pedestrian and bicycle activity, and a school-bus route—meet criteria for a lower statutory speed designation and that lowering speeds would reduce pedestrian fatality risk. County staff emphasized the need to follow proper traffic-study methodology and intergovernmental coordination before making a regulatory change.

What’s next: County staff agreed to bring a renewed traffic study and related recommendations back to the board for consideration; no regulatory change was adopted at the March 17 meeting.

Quotes that matter: “Every one of those factors” in the study, Zamorodi said, “would, by statute, be a 25 miles per hour zone.”

“The county is working with what we can do to help make it as safe as we can,” the director said, noting prior counts, restriping and the ordered beacons.

Ending: The board did not change the speed limit at the meeting but committed to further study and to keeping Frenchtown officials involved as staff prepares recommendations for a future agenda.