Is 40 Mph Too Fast on Cedar Crest?

The South Whitehall Board of Commissioners authorized the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to study traffic on a stretch of N. Cedar Crest Boulevard after a resident complained the speed limit is too high.

The board agreed Wednesday to reduce the speed limit to 35 mph if the study results warrant it and to buy, install and maintain new signs if a change is necessary.

The speed limit on the section of N. Cedar Crest Boulevard between Tilghman Street and Route 22 has been 40 mph since 1968, according to PennDOT Traffic and Operations Engineer Dennis Toomey's correspondence with township officials.

Resident Doug Krasley told commissioners it is a challenge for homeowners to safely mow their lawns and rake leaves because their properties are not buffered by sidewalks or curbs but directly border the shoulder of N. Cedar Crest Boulevard.

Commissioner Glenn Block has questioned if 40 mph is too high for the residential neighborhood.

The police department has been periodically monitoring the speed of passing motorists with an electronic recording device in the 1100 block of N. Cedar Crest Boulevard near Pennsylvania Avenue since last summer. 

Police Chief Thomas Toth told the board in April the department monitored the speed of vehicles between 9 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. on March 22.

"The overwhelming majority were within the legal speed limit," Toth said.

The data showed that of the 1,093 vehicles that passed by the electronic device, the majority drove between 30 mph and 40 mph and two were clocked in at 50 mph, Toth said.

A motorist would have to be driving more than 10 mph over the speed limit in order to be issued a ticket, he said.