October 18, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Norwood neighbors lobby for safer street
by JENNIFER KATZ

Traffic safety advocate, Jen Follo (right) called a meeting to address speeding on Norwood Avenue. In attendance were (l-r) Community Manager Martha Sharkey, Kilian Feeney and Louis Smith. (Photo by Erin Vertreace)

One year after the tragic death of Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, his Norwood Avenue neighbors are still trying to slow down the speeding traffic they say led to his demise. Last Thursday morning, a handful of residents and representatives from neighboring schools Our Mother of Consolation and Norwood Fontbonne Academy met with traffic engineer Mark Washington of the city’s Streets Department, to brainstorm speeding deterrent initiatives along the 8800 block of Norwood Ave.

Traffic safety advocate and Winston Road resident Jennifer Follo organized the meeting. The Local has chronicled Follo’s own trouble with speeding and erratic drivers and her participation in the Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 campaign.

“After I had my baby I started walking up the Avenue to Sunset and around to Norwood,” said Follo, of how she came to be aware of the Norwood Avenue traffic woes.

When NFA parent Greta Brown, who was not a the meeting, approached her to help the neighbors and other concerned parents, Follo set up the meeting with Washington and community stakeholders. Brown spoke out on her concerns in a May 17 article in the Local.

“No one pays attention to the signs,” said Brown in May of speed limits signs posted in the aftermath of Weiss’ death.

At last week’s meeting, Norwood Avenue resident Louis Smith said the situation is out of control and has not improved since Weiss’ death.

“It is systemic, uncontrollable, outrageous, criminal speeding,” he said.

In preparation for the meeting, the Streets Department conducted an informal survey of the traffic in the 8800 block of Norwood Ave. Over the course of two consecutive mid-week mornings between 7:55 and 8:55 a.m. the study found that 85 percent of the traffic was traveling at 35 mph or less in both directions. Although the street’s speed limit is 25 mph, a 10-mile per hour overage is not considered speeding.

Residents felt that perhaps the results were tainted because motorist could see the street vehicle and slow down, even though for at least one of the days, the vehicle was parked out of sight in someone’s driveway.

“I watched [the survey] and cars would slow down,” Smith said. “I would take the figures with a grain of salt.”

Smith also said speeding surveys alone cannot portray the level of danger residents’ face.

“I was walking on the street with my 3-year-old when I saw an SUV come barreling down the street,” he said. “When they saw us, they sped up, whipped around us and accelerated. It’s just rage.”

Gathered to find solutions, the group focused on what the city can do to deter some of the erratic driving.

One possibility is to install an electronic monitor that would relay to drivers their speed. Washington said he rated such a device as a nine out of 10 for effectiveness, but he doubted the city could or would purchase it for the block. Chestnut Hill Community Association Community Manager Martha Sharkey was at the meeting and said she would look into alternate avenues for raising the approximately $3,000-$4,000 the monitor costs.

Neighbors were also interested in changing Norwood Avenue to a one-way street heading southbound. Kilian Feeney, head of maintenance at OMC, said closing Norwood Avenue to northbound traffic would create problems for traffic headed to OMC’s parking lot.

Washington agreed to look into the feasibility of leaving the top of Norwood Avenue open to OMC traffic while making the remainder of the block one-way coming from Sunset Avenue.

NFA vice-principal George Aspen said that the school had applied for flashing light school zone signs to be installed alerting drivers to the decreased speed limit of 15 mph near the campus more than two years ago.

“We were told the signs were on hold because of budget disputes,” he said.

Feeney said it took OMC three years to get the flashing signs installed outside the school.

In the meantime, the streets department will perform an engineering analysis of the proposal to change the street to one-way. A formal application would have to be filed and public meetings would be held with residents and stakeholders before any change could occur.

Follo said the community meetings are in the process of being set up and Sharkey said police have agreed to increase their presence on Norwood Avenue. in the afternoon when the schools let out.

To receive information on when meetings will take place, get involved with this or other traffic related issues, contact Jennifer Follo at jenfollo@comcast.net.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Katz at 215-248-8804 or jenn@chestnuthilllocal.com.