By Emily S. Wang, Staff Reporter
This January, Tredyffrin Township officials revised the speed limit on Conestoga Road, decreasing it from 35 mph to 25 mph. The street borders Teamer Field, and staff and students use it to travel from school.
The change addresses longstanding concerns from community members about speeding vehicles, especially in school areas. TV studio aide Francesca Einstein created a video announcing the change, and on Feb. 4, the package aired on Good Morning ’Stoga.
“An elderly lady lives in the community, and she’s brought it up a few times at school board meetings. (She) is concerned about people speeding down that road, and so it was implemented about a month ago (for such concerns),” Einstein said.
Students have had various reactions to the limit adjustment. Junior and student driver Alexandra Williams uses the road often to travel from home to school as well as meet friends in Paoli. As she normally is more careful around the area, Williams found that remembering the change was the most significant part of the process and did not personally feel it had immediate effects.
“This is mostly because I’m already cautious, especially around the middle school,” Williams said. “It’s a pretty short stretch of the road that they changed the speed on.”
Junior Allie Frederick drives on the road and feels that the lower speed limit is beneficial for members of the community.
“People are not used to going that slow. They usually want to get to where they’re going faster,” Frederick sent in a text message. “I think most people support this change, probably more parents than students. But it makes the road safer for everyone.”
Jim Moran teaches Highway Safety, a Conestoga course available to 10th, 11th and 12th graders to learn how to drive safely. He hopes that the speed limit decrease encourages students to be more cautious when driving around the school.
“All drivers need to understand the reasons for speed limits,” Moran wrote in an email. “These are not set to give us a hard time or make our travels more challenging. Speed limits are set based on road conditions, risk, and many other factors.”
Since the change, Einstein has seen drivers slowing down when near the road for filming.
“Recently, we were outside filming, and we saw that the cars were going slowly so that was impressive. We thought, ‘All right, maybe this is gonna be a good change,’” Einstein said. “We want to make sure everybody’s safe going to and from school, so I think it’ll be a great opportunity for the community to come together and respect each other.”
Emily S. Wang can be reached at [email protected].
