Police cracking down on speeding on Waterdam Road
North Strabane, Peters police make 250 traffic stops in 3 weeks
North Strabane and Peters Township police departments, along with Pennsylvania state police, are cracking down on speeding on Waterdam Road, a high-traffic road that encompasses the two townships.
The 2.3-mile stretch of road, which serves as a connector between Peters and North Strabane townships and sits off Route 19, has turned into “a local raceway over the years,” North Strabane Township Police said in a social media post.
Over the past three weeks, the departments have conducted about 250 traffic stops on the road – which more than 7,000 vehicles drive daily – for excessive speeding and a variety of other traffic violations.
Those stops resulted in 196 warnings, 93 traffic citations, and three arrests, including a motorist who was traveling 85 miles per hour on the road, which has a posted speed limit of 35 mph.
“We’re really making a conscious effort to get out there and slow people down,” said Mark Grimm, Emergency Management Coordinator for North Strabane Township. “There’s a lot of traffic on that road and we want to keep people safe.”
The townships used a state grant to address speeding. The efforts were prompted by several residents’ complaints, a number of crashes, and a recent traffic speed study that showed excessive speeding was regularly occurring on the road.
“If you speed, consider this your notice: our agencies will continue to aggressively monitor and enforce the 35 mph speed limit on Waterdam Road. PLEASE SLOW DOWN,” North Strabane police wrote on the Facebook post.
Several residential homes and neighborhoods are situated along Waterdam Road.
In Pennsylvania, state police are authorized to use radar devices to enforce speed limits, and Grimm said the use of radar “was incredibly effective.”
The departments cited motorists for speeding, tailgating, red light running, and other issues.