Council Considers 2 Grants for Kings Road

The Chatham Borough Council will vote on whether to apply for two grants to improve safety along Kings Road.

The grants, both offered by the state Department of Transportation, would give the borough a combined $383,394 to improve traffic and pedestrian safety along Kings Road, which has been one of the Traffic Safety Committee's top projects this year.

asking for their opinions on what improvements should be made to the roadway to improve safety. Council member Jim Collander, who serves as the liaison to the Traffic Safety Committee, said over the summer, but the committee now has enough responses to warrant a meeting scheduled for Tuesday night.

Kings Road, which runs parallel to Main Street, had a posted speed limit of 25 miles-per-hour, which Collander said in a previous interview is almost impossible to maintain. ""People simply almost are incapable of going 25 miles per hour on that road," Collander said.

Some residents who attended the meeting in July suggested the following approaches:

• Constructing an island in the center of the road, which was not a popular decision among those present;
• Condensing the size of the road, which would make drivers more cautious but also necessitate sidewalks on both sides of the street;
• Adding blinking, solar-powered flashing lights that display the speed limit;
• Using a radar gun that displays the driver's speed to deter going above the limit;
• Adding road tables to the street, which act in the same manner as speed bumps.

Other Council Business

The council will also introduce an ordinance allowing the purchase of a dump druck and plow for $6,435, to be taken from the general capital fund, and another ordinance establishing parking requirements for child care centers in town. Centers already open will be grandfathered in, if the ordinance passes after its second reading.

The Chatham Borough Council meets Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the .