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Supervisors approve multiway stop, curb extensions and more for Thornridge Drive
Summary
After resident testimony about high‑speed outliers and visibility problems, the board approved a package of traffic‑calming measures on Thornridge Drive including an all‑way stop at Teaberry Lane, two curb extensions with raised delineators and additional speed‑feedback signs.
The Falls Township Board of Supervisors voted to install an all‑way stop at Teaberry Lane, add curb‑extension 'pinch points' with raised reflectors at two intersections, and deploy an additional speed‑feedback sign in the northbound direction along Thornridge Drive.
Derek Kennedy, the township’s traffic engineer, summarized field data collected since the last meeting. He said the corridor’s road width prevents conventional lane striping and that Teaberry Lane met sight‑distance warrants for a multiway stop: "The sight distance there was less than a 100 feet...The state requirement at 25 miles per hour for what they call safe stopping sight distance is 157 feet," Kennedy said. He reported more than 7,000 radar speed readings over a week, with the vast majority at or under 25 mph but isolated outliers over 50 mph.
Residents including Nicole Bashke told the board the proposed measures did not adequately protect parts of the corridor in front of their homes and urged additional or different treatments. "It's the outliers that kill people," Bashke said, citing near misses and parked cars that worsen sight lines. Board members acknowledged the frustration and said legal and federal guidelines (the MUTCD) limit where multiway stops are warranted, but they voted to move forward with the engineer’s recommended, mostly low‑cost, implementable measures and to reevaluate after installation.
The board approved the recommendations by motion and second; staff said installation and any bidding for contractors will take a matter of months and that speed and crash data will be rechecked after implementation to determine if permanent curb work or additional measures are required.
