Town Hall Meeting
On October 22, 2018, I held my first town hall meeting. We had a packed room and discussed ideas for improving our community for two hours. I was energized to see so many people motivated to make our neighborhood even better. By far, the largest concern was traffic safety.
First, I addressed the installation of two new stop signs at the intersections of Kenmore / Edgley and Stanley / Menlo. I have received several complaints that residents were not provided advance notice regarding the installation of the stop signs. Both signs originated as constituent requests which I forwarded to the police department for investigation. The officers analyzed the intersections and determined that both intersections met PennDOT warrants for stop signs. Based on this conclusion, I approved the stop signs be added to the boards traffic sign ordinance in August. Pursuant to state law, the proposed ordinance was advertised in a local paper prior to the ordinance's final passage in September. I acknowledge that most people would not have seen the advertisement, and at the meeting, I committed that in the future I would provide direct notice to neighbors before the installation of any additional stop signs in the ward.
The second major issue was a potential reconfiguration of the intersection at Kenmore, Woodlawn and Abington. At the request of a resident, I asked the Township Manager to review the intersection and determine if a traffic island could improve the traffic flow at that intersection. Perhaps as a result of township crews surveying the intersection, some residents believe that the township was prepared to make changes to the intersection without their input. That was never the case. All surveys were merely for information gathering purposes, and I would never have approved any changes without resident input. Based on the feedback, we will be going back to the drawing board, and I will continue to work with neighbors to determine need to be made. If township develops any plans for this or any other intersection in the future, I promise to contact the impacted neighbors before proceeding.
Below is a list of some of the ideas proposed by the neighbors in attendance at the meeting. Please let me know if you have any ideas you would like to add to the list. Note that these ideas are still under consideration and may not be approved.
Overall assessment of Jenkintown Road to reduce accidents
No parking on Abington Ave near the intersection of Woodlawn to improve visibility for left had turns onto Abington Ave
Increase lighting on the streets closest to the Keswick Theater
No parking on Keswick Ave near the intersection near Abington Ave to improve visibility for left hand turns onto Keswick Ave
New stop sign at Edgley and Parkdale
Increased enforcement for the stop sign at intersection of Cottage and Charles
Replace the no parking sign at Wharton and Donaldson
Increase parking options for Keswick Village.
Increased enforcement of parking restrictions at Abington Ave and Wharton Road
Reduce speeding on Keswick Ave
Engage with SPS to reduce speeding by employees driving through neighborhood to get to work
New trash cans for Keswick Village
School Crossing for at Easton and Fairhill
Stop sign and cross walk at Mt. Carmel and Edgley
