Secaucus has lowered the speed limit on Riverside Station Road, the main thoroughfare through the Xchange residential development.
Mayor Michael Gonnelli and the Town Council have adopted an ordinance that amends the Code of the Town of Secaucus, Chapter 127 “Vehicles and Traffic” to lower the speed limit on that road to 15 miles per hour. The council voted unanimously to do so, except for Second Ward Councilman Mark Denhert who was absent for family reasons.
According to the ordinance, the mayor and council recognize that the safety of all motorists, passengers, pedestrians, children, residents and visitors is of utmost importance. The town previously enacted an ordinance to assist in alleviating dangerous situations on the town’s streets, promote safe passage, address traffic flow, and specify penalties for violations
Upon the review and recommendation of the Police Department’s Traffic Division, modification of the speed limit on Riverside Station Boulevard Drive to 15 miles per hour is recommended in the interest of public safety in light of the roadway’s purpose, use and traffic volume.
The council did not discuss the ordinance at the September 27 meeting when it was introduced, nor when it was adopted at the October 25 meeting.
After it was introduced, Town Administrator Gary Jeffas said the ordinance brings everything into compliance for the proper speed limit on that block. Residents may know that there are already 15 miles per hour speed limit signs on Riverside Station Boulevard, but this ordinance was necessary to make it official.
“The speed limit signs were up, but in our formal ordinance, it didn’t say 15 miles per hour,” Jeffas said. “Most residential streets are automatically 25 miles per hour under our ordinance. It was always the intent to have that speed limit, but we had to put in our ordinance so that if anyone was ticketed or anything, then our ordinance matches the street signage.”
Other ordinance amends residential parking
Meanwhile, the town is also looking to add another street to its residential parking program. At its October 25 meeting, the council introduced an ordinance that would amend Chapter 127A of the Code of the Town of Secaucus entitled “Residential Parking.”
According to the ordinance, Gonnelli and the council recognize that the safe parking of vehicles for all residents, visitors, and motorists, is of utmost concern. The town has a residential parking program that was developed to alleviate unfavorable parking conditions and address conditions created on residential streets.
The mayor and council have determined based on resident needs and review by the Police Traffic Division that updates are need to add locations and correctly reflect the zones areas. There was no discussion of the ordinance by the council when it was introduced, but after the meeting Jeffas explained that this would add Gary Terrace to the residential parking program.
“Everything on that list was already on our residential parking, except Gary Terrace,” Jeffas said of the list of streets that are part of the residential parking program. “So that was added to it.”
According to Jeffas, in addition to contemplating making Gary Terrace a residential parking only road, the ordinance would also remove all references to older ordinances in the residential parking program. They have not been updated in some time, he said.
“The main reason that was redone was because of the ordinance it was referencing,” Jeffas said. “Some of them are referencing older ordinances that haven’t been updated since that time. So we crossed out all the older ordinances and readopted it in the ordinances that have all our street parking and permitting and stuff in there.”
The next Town Council meeting will be held on November 9 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Town Hall at 1203 Paterson Plank Road. For more information, go to secaucusnj.gov.
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