No Need for Speed: Cranberry Asks Drivers to Slow it Down

With the warm weather here, and the kids just about to be let out of school for the summer, Cranberry is once again hoping to slow down speeders.

For the second year in a row, is participating in the national Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 program, which is dedicated to creating safer streets for youngsters by reminding drivers to obey the 25 mph speed limit in place in most residential areas.

This year’s campaign takes place June 18-25 in more than a dozen of Cranberry’s neighborhoods.

“It’s the perfect time to remind people that school is out and to drive slowly,” said Carol Winterhalter, a Hampshire Woods resident involved in this year’s program. 

Township assistant manager Duane McKee said the idea of participating in the national program came from members of Cranberry’s various homeowner associations. Last year was the first for the program in the township.

Residents took part in the campaign by placing yards signs in front of their homes reminding drivers to slow down. Two speed-gauge trailers also were rotated through participating neighborhoods and there was an increased police presence in those areas.

The same criteria will be followed for this year’s program, McKee said. In addition, the township ordered 200 yard signs, which were financed by several sponsors, for people’s homes.

The eye-catching signs have different slogans—including "Hang Up and Drive 25—that remind motorists to drive safely. There also were about 30 signs left over from last year’s program.

McKee added data from 2011 suggested there were some reductions in speeding during the campaign.

“The homeowner associations thought it was great program,” he said. “They felt there was a movement taking place, so they definitely wanted to do it again."

After the first campaign in June, McKee said another program would take place in September, when children go back to school. 

In her neighborhood, Winterhalter said the yard signs got everyone talking last summer. She hopes it will do the same this year.

“I’m happy it slowed them down,” she said of her neighbors. “I think it’s a great program to bring attention to the 25 mph hour speed limit.”

The township also will collect before and after traffic data during the slow down campaign and share the results with homeowners, McKee said.

The program was offered to all 63 of Cranberry’s homeowners associations, McKee said. Of those, 13 chose to participate in this year's campaign. In 2011, 10 neighborhoods took part in the program.

“Last year’s program did generate a lot of responses after the program,” McKee said. “They called and said they wanted to be involved this year.”

The participating neighborhoods for 2012 are:

• Marshall Woods
• Hunters Creek
• Cranberry Heights
• Freedom Woods
• Hampshire Woods
• Glenbrook Manor
• Ehrman Farms
• Walden Pond
• Cranberry West
• Clearbrook
• Autumn Hill
• Winchester Lakes
• Winchester Farms