Motorists Need to Slow Down on Residential Streets, Councilman Says

Bridgewater Township Councilman Allen Kurdyla said he recently had a somewhat harrowing experience on Bogart Drive.

Kurdyla had been contacted by a resident concerned about the speed at which drivers exit Route 28 onto the residential street, and went to investigate.

"I witnessed people turning off Route 28 and they were moving," he said at Monday's council meeting.

Kurdyla broached the subject of placing speed bumps on the street, as well as others where residents have complained of traffic zipping past houses.

But Bridgewater has a policy of not using speed bumps—in fact, Township Engineer Robert Bogart said he tried to discuss speed bumps at a meeting with first responders several years ago.

"I nearly got lynched," he said. "Everyone in the room was against it."

Bogart noted the public works department complained about the difficulty of plowing speed bumps, while fire officials said the bumps cause problems for fire trucks. Police preferred educating drivers, and Rescue Squad members said the bumps cause patients in ambulances to bounce. 

Kurdyla said if the township won't use speed bumps, then he'd like the council members to try and figure out a way to slow traffic on some streets.

"I hope everybody realizes, when you're on a residential street, 35 mph is pretty fast when you have children around," he said.