Community Corner

Speed Bumps Needed on Ithanell Road, Residents Say

Homeowners get nearly 100 signatures for petition for speed bumps on their street.

Residents living on Ithanell Road believe adding speed bumps on their curvy street would be safer for the pedestrians, bikers and skateboarders who are on the street daily.

That's why resident Arlene Lelling got a group of Hopatcong residents to sign a petition for the request, and presented it to the mayor and council at Wednesday night's Hopatcong Borough Council Meeting.

Residents argued that cars constantly speed on the 25-mile-per-hour street, and that it is hard for drivers to see the pedestrians while traveling around the curves.

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Lelling went door-to-door and got 98 signatures on the petition that reads that the residents are "concerned for the safety and health of ourselves, our children, our guests, and our pets."

The several residents that went up with Lelling to present the petition all agreed that ever since Ithanell Road was paved, there have been an increase of bikers and skateboars.

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"At some point somebody is going to get hit, that's my fear," resident Victoria McMahon-Croce said. "I'm concerned about people in the neighborhood and mostly the teenagers that run up and down that road."

Others argued that there's no shoulder lane or sidewalks for kids to walk safely to school, or for residents to walk their dogs as cars pass by on the road.

Mayor Sylva Petillo said that the petition is referred to Hopatcong Police Traffic Unit, and they will conduct a study and offer suggestions.


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