[BIKE] Making Haddonfield more walkable

[John Boyle]

Posted on Thu, Dec. 16, 2004 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/10428330.htm   Another step toward being a 'walkable' town   A borough meeting tonight will collect a new round of ideas for improving the lives of pedestrians.   By Edward Colimore   Inquirer Staff Writer   Call it revenge. After hundreds of years of dodging traffic - from horse-drawn to horseless carriages - the pedestrians of Haddonfield are striking back.   Their campaign for a more walkable town began with the formation of the Transportation and Pedestrian Safety Committee in February 2003.   It was racheted up with a weeklong effort in May to force motorists' adherence to the borough's 25 m.p.h. speed limit.   And now, after other towns copied its "Drive 25" campaign, Haddonfield is set to announce the initial results of a $90,000 state-funded traffic study. Residents will get a report at 8 tonight in the Borough Hall auditorium.   "We want as much public input as possible," said Marc Lavorgna, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. "We want the people who drive and walk these intersections every day to provide anecdotes and suggestions.   "We will incorporate those suggestions into the solutions."   Lavorgna said another public meeting would be held to announce the proposed changes and get more public suggestions.   "We're not necessarily talking about radical intersection changes," he said. "We're looking for ways of calming traffic, and that may involve speed humps, narrowing lane widths and better signage.   "The goal is to utilize different improvements to change driver behavior."   The study shows that the Route 561-Potter Street corridor is a place of speeding motorists, high truck volume, and a "confusing lane configuration with poor pedestrian and bicycle compatibility."   The study identified Lincoln Avenue as a "convenient cut-through for motorists seeking to avoid congested Kings Highway." Some of the traffic on the road was related to school arrivals and dismissals.   High speeds and heavy traffic also were reported on Euclid Avenue, a "high number of accidents" was logged on Haddon Avenue the last three years, and Belmont and Roberts Avenues were described as another "convenient cut-through" to motorists avoiding Kings Highway.   Former Mayor John J. Tarditi Jr., the borough's commissioner of public safety, said the study would help identify problems so they could be addressed. "I'm thrilled we've been able to get this kind of support from the state and consultant in developing some approaches to slowing down traffic," he said. Haddonfield's "Drive 25" campaign was conceived by Norman Hinsey, an engineer who moved from Manhattan to Haddonfield about five years ago with his wife and two young children.   The campaign had sponsors, banners, a launch with borough officials - and stepped-up police enforcement with radar guns and ticketing. "Haddonfield is an immensely walkable town which makes the pedestrian/vehicle conflict on sidewalks and crosswalks that much more apparent, more so than other towns with fewer pedestrians and bicyclists," said Hinsey, chairman of the Transportation and Pedestrian Safety Committee.