BERKELEY – Some Holiday City roads have issues with speeding and disrepair, residents told the governing body at a recent meeting of the Township Council.
Many seniors were in attendance for another purpose, but while they were there, they took the opportunity to voice their concerns, asking for more police coverage of areas they say are dangerous.
Resident Denise Fitzgerald appreciated that the township installed signs asking people to slow down, but “Apparently there are people who can’t read.
“The Amazon guy, the FedEx guy…” are all speeding through the residential areas to make their deliveries, she said. “I almost got hit walking my dog. I had to jump up on the curb.”
Mayor Carmen Amato said that when there is a specific street that’s a concern, they’ll put up the blinking signs and radar for a few days to remind drivers.
Another resident, Carolyn Scherm, asked the police chief if there could be some enforcement at Martinique Drive and Northumberland Drive. There have been a couple of accidents and she hasn’t seen officers patrolling there.
“Have the cops come and give us a ticket. There’s nothing wrong with getting a ticket if you do something wrong,” she said. If you give one person a ticket, they’ll tell their friends about it, and it will have a much bigger impact.
Chief Kevin Santucci, who attends many council meetings, said there are a list of trouble areas that get visited by police above and beyond normal patrols. If there is an officer stationed at an intersection, they might be dispatched to a first aid call (for example). So, there might not be a police car in the area when drivers go by which leads people to think that the intersection is not being patrolled.
Resident Marilyn Miller said that St. Croix Street is a speedway. She thanked the town for trying to lower the speed, but “nobody seems to care.”
She also took a moment to thank the sanitation crew and the people who plow for doing a good job. “All I hear are complaints and I just want to say thank you.”
During that meeting, the township applied to the county for a grant that would go toward reconstructing Rodhos Street.
Amato said Rodhos is a major thoroughfare and it needs work. They will be going out to bid for the project after they get the grant.
