Southern York County Life

Lee Street traffic woes

Lee Street has long been used as a shortcut to bypass downtown Stewartstown, but the recent detour around road work on Route 851 between Lee Street and the railroad tracks makes the former traffic seem inconsequential. The official detour takes drivers a long way around, so many (perhaps most) local residents opt to use Lee Street.

For those who live along this unofficial detour, this presents an unhappy situation. The increased traffic (one resident counted over 500 cars during a 1 hour period during rush hour) is bad enough, but some of those using Lee Street also apparently ignore the 25 mph speed limit.

Several possible remedies have been suggested, including speed bumps, stop signs, partial barricades, and making Lee Street a one way road. However, before Hopewell Township can take action, they reportedly must have an area transportation study completed, something that just won’t happen before the detour is passé.

The most important issue is safety. Some worry about the possibility that kids could be hit by a car. One proposal to help alleviate that potential is the the addition of sidewalks. Again, this won’t happen overnight.

While the detour will only last about 6 weeks, traffic problems, and particularly the problem of speeding, has been ongoing. The question is what to do about it. Would additional policing help (perhaps paying the Stewartstown Police Department for added coverage)? Are speed bumps the answer? Sidewalks certainly sound like a good idea, but of course someone has to pay for that.

Posted by Dan Baldwin on 07/24/2000 at 02:47 PM in News

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