Rumble strips being tested to stop speeders in Aspinwall

David Pankiewicz lives along Second Street in Aspinwall, and lately, he’s seen too many motorists going too fast.

“We’ve been a detour zone the past three years,” he said, referring to heavy traffic along Freeport Road brought on by construction of new Highland Park Bridge ramps. “As long as somebody knows the area, it’s not a problem. When somebody doesn’t know the area, it becomes a problem.”

Aspinwall officials are hopeful that motorists feeling a bit of a rumble will solve the problem.

Rumble strips have been installed along several Aspinwall roads as a way to slow down traffic.

“It gives you a little bit of a bump, but it’s more visual,” Pankiewicz said. “Considering we’re 15 mph, it helps. There aren’t a whole lot of neighborhoods that are 15 mph.”

The rumble strips can be found along Second Street, Emerson Avenue and 11th Street. Three white lines have been etched into the road followed by the word “slow” and triangles used as arrows.

“These are streets that residents had concerns, and more-than-usual traffic because of the (PennDOT) construction,” police Chief David Nemec said via email. “We use our speed machines to gauge traffic speeds and a count of vehicles. That’s how we determine where we want to put them.”

The speed machine flashes how fast a driver is going. There is one along the 100 block of Second Street.

“They do make a difference in the fact drivers see a physical flashing sign and know we are monitoring the street which brings speed down,” Nemec said. “Other departments are doing the same thing.”

Public works crews installed the strips in late September, said borough Manager Melissa O’Malley.

They were purchased from Ennis-Flint Inc. Project cost was $4,400 and paid for through the police department budget.

Officers are in the process of collecting data to gauge their effectiveness, Mayor Joe Noro said.

“We are now studying the speed before rumble strips and after the rumble strips were applied,” he said.

He said Nov. 8 that a report would be presented at the December council meeting.

Traffic on Emerson, Second Avenue and 11th Street has increased as motorists look to avoid backups on Freeport Roads caused ramp reconstruction at the Highland Park Bridge interchanges in Aspinwall and Sharpsburg. The new ramps opened to traffic in September.

The ramp work was part of a $47.31 million improvement project addressing the bottleneck and congested traffic flow on Route 28 at the Highland Park Bridge.

Courtney Humes, who lives along 11th Street, said motorists use her road as a cut-through to Fox Chapel and to the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Delafield Road.

Humes hadn’t noticed the rumble strips but has seen police pull over drivers at 11th Street and Center Avenue for speeding and running stop signs.

She recalled more predominant rubber speed bumps being used on her street years ago and hopes the strips will be just as effective.

“The next time I drive up or down, I’m going to pay attention (to the strips),” Humes said.

Mike Perdriel lives a few doors down from Humes. He said he travels mostly by bicycle and hasn’t felt the strips. But he was pleased to see the borough do something about speeders. He’s also observed police patrolling the streets.

“People tend to speed along here going to the freeway,” Perdriel said. “It hasn’t been so bad lately because the (Route 28) exit is closed down there (by Virginia Avenue).

“The cops do a pretty good job of catching people and giving them tickets. We used to have proper (speed) bumps, but they got destroyed over time. Those were really effective. These are just rumble pads, I guess. It warns people that something’s different here.”

Residents who want to give feedback about the rumble strips can send a message through the borough website at aspinwallpa.com/contact.