Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee

Members

Reports

• NTAC Report 2nd Quarter 2015
• NTAC Quarterly Report, August 31, 2014

Meeting Schedule

The Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee meets on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the temporary location located at 450 Lincoln Highway, Fairless Hills, PA 19030.

Board Composition

The Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee is a 5 member board with 5 year terms. Members are appointed by the Board of Supervisors.

Currently, there are no vacancies on the Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee.

Click here to send your letter of interest in joining the Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee.

Township Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee (NTAC)

Introduction

When local governments across the U.S. receive complaints from residents, among the most frequent are about vehicles using 25-mile-per-hour neighborhood streets as speedways, or drivers that are ignoring stop signs.

It’s the same here. From all our residential neighborhoods, our police department, township administrators, and supervisors field calls from concerned residents reporting pervasive speeding and moving violations at stop signs by cars, trucks and motorcycles.

To coordinate and address neighborhood traffic complaints that were going to different local officials and offices, cities across the country have established “traffic calming” committees.

The NTAC

The new Falls Township Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Committee (“NTAC”) is composed of citizens and local officials serving as a central point of contact, to receive and evaluate neighborhood traffic complaints. When an investigation satisfies our thresholds for frequency and severity we may recommend that the administration and Board of Supervisors consider implementing a traffic calming solution.

The NTAC is establishing criteria to thoroughly investigate each speeding / stop sign complaint. When appropriate, we will forward supporting data and recommendations for “Traffic Calming” measures to the administration and Board of Supervisors.

A purely advisory body, the NTAC meets the second Monday of each month, to receive and investigate neighborhood traffic complaints. Once each quarter we will report to the Board of Supervisors. However, any decision to implement roadway or street sign changes can be made solely by the Board of Supervisors.

Calming Solutions

Among solutions the NTAC may recommend to the Board of Supervisors are speed bumps, electronic, photographic and on-site surveillance, and speed displaying devices that are towed to neighborhood curbsides or installed on existing or newly erected poles.

The Falls Township NTAC will not investigate speeding complaints on any state-owned, i.e. PENNDOT roads, including Business Route 1, Route 13, and West Trenton Avenue.

The NTAC also will make committee members available to local groups to address their concerns or heighten awareness of speeding in our neighborhoods by explaining approaches that can be taken to address the problem.

NTAC Traffic Investigation Updates

At our May 2014 organizational meeting the NTAC received a complaint of private mini-busses speeding to and from an elementary school located along a 25-mile-per-hour-speed-limit street in the Lakeside Drive section of the Township. A police department senior officer checked out the area and after speaking with school officials and representatives of the transportation company the problem appears to have been abated.

Also at the May 2014 meeting a decision was made to install unobtrusive technology that counts traffic and measures vehicles speed along another street. That radar-based law enforcement device registered more than 2,000 vehicles going to and from an area in the Lakeside Drive section of the Township over four recording periods. The data is being evaluated a possible traffic calming recommendation. If our criteria are satisfied we may make an official recommendation to the administration and the Board of Supervisors.

The Falls Township Police Department responded to an NTAC complaint of vehicles frequently disregarding stop signs at the intersection of Alden Avenue and Oxford Road in Pennsbury Heights. A patrol car was detailed to that three-way intersection. Some 46 vehicles were stopped; 31 citations were written and 15 motorists received written warnings.

How to File a Complaint

If you observe too-frequent speeding or stop sign disregard vehicles in your 25-mile-per-hour-posted neighborhood, please fill out the online complaint form  or email admin@fallstwp.com. If you are unable to complete one online, please visit the township offices to obtain a printed form.

Is It Really Speeding and Are Enough Vehicles Doing It?

A word of caution: It’s not hard to notice a car or truck in your neighborhood that’s obviously exceeding the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. But it’s not that easy to know how fast a vehicle actually is traveling. And even after we investigate a complaint, if only a handful of too-fast cars and trucks are exceeding our criteria for traffic calming we may not make a calming recommendation. Speed limit violators must be traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the posted limit and those vehicles should represent at substantial percentage of vehicles on that section of street to qualify for calming measures. On the other hand we are happy to use education, our “bully pulpit,” to help make residents and transient driver know to slow down.

Stop Signs

If you observe vehicles constantly driving or rolling through a neighborhood stop sign, please take note the approximate times of day and direction from which it is occurring regularly and fill out a complaint form or email it to admin@fallstwp.com or obtain one from the township office.