Chief: New Speed Sign 'Seems to Be Working'

that has been monitoring the speed of vehicles on Main Street in Hellertown has already helped calm traffic in the area, police chief Robert Shupp told Borough Council March 5.

Shupp said the sign, which was purchased by his department with grant money, "seems to be working" as intended.

"People are paying attention to it," he said.

He added that several residents even took the time to call the police department when they noticed that the sign wasn't lit.

"We received a bunch of phone calls," he said.

The reason the sign temporarily went dark, he explained, was that it malfunctioned when an adjustment to its computer was attempted.

A representative from the company that manufactured the sign was due to visit the borough to fix whatever glitch caused it to power off, he said.

Shupp said the speed of traffic in the vicinity of Main and West Clark streets has decreased since the sign was first turned on several weeks ago.

The speed limit on Main Street in Hellertown is 30mph, and the sign flashes the registered speed of a passing vehicle if it exceeds that limit.

Shupp also said the data stored by the computer attached to the speed sign will be downloaded and used to help the department prioritize its resources and target areas where speeding seems to be more of a problem.

The sign will typically be set up in one spot for about two weeks, and it won't always be located on Main Street.

"We thought that was a good place to start," Shupp told council.

He also reported that speed lines were recently painted on a number of borough streets, such as Constitution Avenue, to help with speed enforcement.