Residents press council to seek lower county speed limit and deer-crossing measures near schools

Sherry Parnell, a longtime Old Tappan resident, told the council she had observed repeated deer‑vehicle incidents and a recent event in which police officers had to put down an injured deer. Parnell said the stretch of Olde Tappan Road between Bi State and Washington — a county road — has heavy traffic, school drop‑off activity and distracted drivers. "An inexpensive solution would be if we could put a deer crossing sign between Central Ave by Bi State and Washington by the school," she told the council.

Parnell asked the borough to coordinate with Bergen County Department of Transportation and the borough police traffic coordinator to collect enforcement and crash data to build a case for a lower limit; the county typically sets speed limits on its roads. A council member said the first step is gathering data from the police traffic coordinator and increasing enforcement to show the county a documented problem. The council's police liaison agreed the department would look into traffic counts, citations and other data the DOT requires for a speed‑limit petition.

Members acknowledged that changing a county speed limit requires a formal petition to the county and evidence such as traffic counts and crash history. Several council members said they were sympathetic to lowering the limit and to low‑cost mitigations such as signage and increased police radar enforcement; they also noted that development and an increase in delivery and commuter traffic had changed driving patterns. The mayor asked the police liaison to follow up with the traffic coordinator and county contacts and to report back to council.