Whether you’re a new driver in Verona or someone who’s been on our roads for decades, you’ll need to be alert to changes in parking, stopping and turning on several streets.
At its meeting on Monday, May 1, the Town Council introduced an ordinance that would make alterations to Claremont Avenue, Dodd Terrace, Fairview Avenue, Personnette Avenue, Oakridge Road, Chestnut Road, Sampson Drive, and South Prospect Street, as well as the driveway in front of Verona High School. The changes range from turn and parking prohibitions to a host of new stop signs.
If you go to sporting events at VHS’s lower field, you need to know that you can no longer make a right turn from Sampson Drive onto Dodd Terrace. If you drop off or pick up your kids in the front driveway at VHS, you can no longer turn left onto Fairview Avenue when you exit. If you park your car all day on South Prospect Street to catch the DeCamp Bus into New York City, plan on walking to the bus stop now: Parking on South Prospect between Verona’s main artery and Hill Street will be limited to just two hours between 6 a.m. and noon.
If you have been tempted to dash through the intersection of Oakridge Road and Chestnut Road, you’ll need to find the brakes. The township will be putting up multi-way stop signs to slow down the traffic on Oakridge.Township Manager Matt Cavallo noted in his presentation on the traffic changes that, studies have found that multi-way stops have reduced average travel speed by an average of 19% where they have been implemented. Residents of that street won’t be getting the speed bumps once planned for Oakridge, but they will be getting larger, brighter stop signs and, potentially striping on the street’s shoulders, which will narrow it visually. Cavallo said that studies have found that pavement markings like shoulder striping cuts travel speeds by 7%, on average.
The changes are needed on Oakridge because the township has documented a median speed of 29 to 31 miles per hour on the street, which is a 25 mph roadway. The 85th percentile speed–the speed at which 85% of traffic travels at or below–was found to be 32 to 34 miles per hour. The goal is to cut speeds on Oakridge by three to five miles per hour, or 10% to 15%.
You can read the ordinance as introduced here. There will be a time for public discussion of the measure at the next Town Council meeting, which will be Monday, May 15.
