RED BANK: SPEED LIMIT RADAR SIGNS POSTED

New radar-equipped speed limit signs on Leighton Avenue (above) and Irving Place (below).  (Photos by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

Pedestrians and residents on two streets in Red Bank can maybe stop screaming at drivers to slow down, or at least come at them with some hard proof that they’re going too fast.

A pair of new radar-equipped speed limit signs that clock vehicle speeds now tell drivers to cool it before they kill somebody.

Actually, the signs are a bit less aggro. They flash one of two short messages: “thank you” for those clocked at or below the 25 mph limit and “slow down” to scofflaw speeders.

The two new so-called “feedback signs” were installed about two weeks ago, Red Bank Police Captain Mike Frazee told redbankgreen in an email. 

He called them, “fantastic, both for making drivers aware of their speed while bringing safety and security to the neighborhood.”

The signs cost roughly $1,000 each, Frazee said.

“We are always looking for new alternatives to help with pedestrian and vehicular safety,” he said.

Irving Place was chosen as a location because it’s an unusually wide side street that acts as a cut-through between Maple Avenue and Broad Street, garnering a large amount of complaints about speeding from residents there, he said.

The location on Leighton, just north of West Sunset Avenue, was chosen for similar reasons. Leighton is often used by drivers as a “cut through” for travelers passing through town. 

The sign is the latest in a series of traffic-calming measure installed on the roadway.

A new four-way stop at the corner or Leighton and Drs. James Parker Boulevard was installed last year.  

To an observer watching traffic on both streets Friday, the sign on Irving seemed to clock more speeders than the sign on Leighton. 

On Leighton, most drivers were already being slowed down by the speed humps that were installed several years ago.

(Note: the photos accompanying this story do not capture the full sign display due to the digital camera being unable to capture the LED display. The signs are fully functioning and appear in full to the naked eye.)

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