Description
Cars and buses routinely travel down Ridgewood at speeds in excess of 50 mph. Some of the biggest offenders are the city buses and the school buses. A stop sign at the corner of Mile Ln and Ridgewood Rd would help to slow down traffic. Many people bike, jog and walk down Ridgewood..it's only a matter of time until someone gets seriously injured or killed.
5 Comments
In the know (Guest)
Stop signs are an ineffective speed control measure. If a vehicle actually stops (a big "if"). They only slow down for the sign and within 40 feet, they are back to speed they were traveling to begin with. Stop signs are only authorized to control conflicts at intersections.
paying too many taxes for this hassle (Guest)
if only this problem was just here, this whole street is like a joke. no one is safe on this road, how many accidents have accured at the sharp corner by 1006?? An accident happens at least once a week in the winter it is all the time. The yellow line is constantly being crossed by speeding cars and the idiots are too stupid to slow down and hit each other, often they miss the corner all together and hit the guardrail and of course the dumbasses just take off with their bumper or whatever dragginf behind. Most of these are kids speeding. It has been asked over and over from the police department to control the speed, but what we got was two beautiful signs that show 15 mps on one side and 25 on the other. Maybe we should all just put speed bumps on the road ourselves as I have seen in other towns and when the idiots fly by and lose their mufflers maybe they will learn. It is just a matter of time before someone is killed by a speeder. Walking on Ridgewood Road is a matter of taking chances, God forbid you are not paying attention while walking. This happens in the morning, in the afternoon and late afternoon.
fedup resident (Guest)
I moved to this area called Westfield due to the seemly quiet dairy farm,hay fields and wooded area with it's friendly residents. If you walk this area you have to have the ability to jump off the road as the traffic can be dangerous.
The curve's hardscaping that's mentioned on Ridgewood Rd has been repaired many times. Currantly it has reflective material to warn whomever is approaching that there is a rail there. This material covers the lenght of this rail and is chowdered up from all the hits during it's brief tenure.
Another 50 yards or so east from this location is an s curve followed by a knollthat has steep terrain and large trees on both sides. This causes limited visability while speeding west from 217/East Street thru a densly populated stretch of road towards this sharp turn (over 90 degrees right) assisting the operator to bounce off the reflected rails into the path of a residence who had to place large boulders on the lawn to limit these vehicles from becoming remodeling excuses.
Traveling west on Ridgewood Road the operator has the opportunity to negotiate a beautiful long stretch of road with nice country scenary before meeting this 90 plus degree left. After this correction in course, the action for a quick decision is followed up with a slight curve left then right while the opportunity to power up and regain the lost speed is made when approaching the before mentioned knoll section. After cresting the knoll the operator is traveling thru the densely populated section with many driveways before having to stop? this is the T-intersection of a major state road. (East Street/217 and Ridgewood Road)
The increased car volume and speeding are bad enough, the increased truck traffic from Rte 372 to Rte 3 has averaged a large truck going by my home every 20 mins (Mon-Sat)this summer. This year the motorcyles are really tearing the route up. As per evidence of a motorcycle speeding with no time to avoid hitting a car, as it came over the knoll going west from this dangerous curve.
The posted speed is reasonable considering the street dangers that are presented. Residents took the time to make attractive signs..." Slow down enjoy the ride" ...but the operators are traveling either to fast to read these requests or simply don't care.
I believe a speed bump before the knoll (in both directions) would limit the potential of someone getting seriously injured and/or killed. Small investment for the taxpayer resulting in win/win/wins for reducing costs for the town and insurance companies. (Road crews/police/fire/ambulance/hospitals/families...) 911 is very aware of this section of road. A patrol car in the driveway of an unoccupied home located at this knoll would provide a large revenue enhancement for the town. Would at least 20 mph over the posted speed limit constitute a clear and present danger? Would not others be educated about the traffic laws and the resulting costs of speeding when this section receives it's due attention?
Residents feeling that they are considered safe... priceless.
I thought about adding pictures but this reply but it is large enough already. This has been an ongoing issue. It seems the matter will continue till sombody important is killed.
Mark Gustafson (Guest)
I keep getting emails asking if this problem has been fixed...no it has not. The city placed a mobile speed radar on Ridgewood for a week or so. This may have temporarily slowed down traffic in the immediate area of the radar but not on the rest of Ridgewood. The city and school buses continue to speed unchecked along with the majority of the vehicles. It looks like it will actually take some enforcement of the speed limit to slow traffic. Nice try with the mobile radar...but it has not helped....maybe when someone is killed or severly injured the appropriate steps will be taken to fix this issue.
Big Shot (Guest)
everyone knows that there is no enforced speed limit on ridgewood road.