Speed Humps Coming Back to Eatontown's Lewis Street

By Christopher Sheldon

Speed humps will be reinstalled on Lewis Street in Eatontown after the Eatontown Council discussed the idea of not bringing them back.

The humps were removed so Lewis Street could be repaved, but the council wanted to hear public input and a traffic study before they were reinstalled.

Fran Mullan of T&M, the borough's engineering firm, said the speed humps were installed about nine years ago to help curb traffic and speeding caused by Fort Monmouth. Mullan said the amount of traffic on Lewis Street has decreased since the fort was closed, but that there are still some who drive faster than the posted 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. 

Eatontown Police Department Traffic Safety Officer Christopher Bartlett said a traffic study was conducted on Lewis Street from May 10 through May 17 while the speed humps were removed.

Bartlett said just over 35,000 vehicles' speeds were monitored and said the average speed traveled was 26 miles per hour. About 66 percent of the cars were over traveling over the speed limit.

Several Lewis Street residents said the speed humps have mixed results because people often speed up once they go over them and that they make a lot of noise when trucks and larger vehicles drive over them.

Eatontown Councilman Dennis Connelly said the speed humps are effective in slowing traffic.

"Most people are saying that they definitely work in slowing the traffic down, but they don't like the noise they also create," Councilman Connelly said. "I think we need to think safety when we're trying to slow traffic down."

The council discussed the possibility of bringing back only one speed hump and putting up an electronic sign that shows drivers their speed, but ultimately decided it would be best to bring back two speed humps.

"The optimum solution is to go back to two speed humps," Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said. "That's what we had, that's what was successful."