Residents urge Harris Township supervisors to act on speeding; engineer outlines options and costs

At a Harris Township Board of Supervisors meeting, residents packed the room to press the board for traffic‑calming measures on Academy Street and West Main Street, saying repeated speeding and a lack of sidewalks are making village streets unsafe for walkers, cyclists and children.

Residents described long histories of speeding in the village and nearby hills, and gave multiple anecdotes about near‑misses involving buses, delivery trucks and neighbors. "Somebody's going to get hurt," said Karen Conroy, who identified herself as an Academy Street resident and urged the board to install speed humps rather than rely on signs or occasional police enforcement. Linda Mussy, who lives on West Main Street, said she can hear trucks "revving up and flying down the street" and that the problem is ongoing.

The board had invited Rob Watts of McCormick Taylor, the township's traffic consultant, to explain options. Watts said a traffic‑calming approach usually follows four steps: collect recent data, define evaluation criteria, set thresholds for action and work with stakeholders on solutions. He described physical measures (road geometry changes, speed cushions and elongated road humps), perception measures (lane narrowing and curb islands) and non‑physical tools (radar feedback signs, enforcement and education). "Speed humps . . . for College Township cost about $10,000 a hump — design through construction," Watts said as an illustrative figure, adding that cushions and other designs can be used where emergency access is a concern.

Many residents pressed that prior data collection has sometimes been placed in the wrong location — at the bottom of a hill where speeds are lower — and asked the board to prioritize where counts are made. Several speakers asked the board to consider sidewalks in parallel with speed measures; Lisa Holland said narrow streets and missing sidewalks should be part of the decision rubric.

Supervisors agreed on the need for a written policy that would set objective thresholds and provide transparency on how requests are evaluated. The board asked staff to continue collecting calibrated speed data, to coordinate with the township's traffic engineer, and to return with examples of local approaches and a draft policy timeline. One supervisor suggested forming a small community committee to help review requests and ensure neighbors' voices are represented.

The board did not vote on physical measures at the meeting; rather, it directed staff to develop a traffic‑calming policy, refine data collection locations and present a package of options for public review and a future decision.