Police plan to conduct a traffic study at Charter Ridge in Sandy Hook in response to residents’ complaints that vehicular speeding has become a problem in that densely built residential neighborhood.

Resident Jennifer Stoltz of 23 Charter Ridge, which is located at the intersection of Charter Ridge and Canterbury Lane, told Police Commission members on December 2 that the speeding problem poses safety hazards to the many small children who live in the neighborhood. The Police Commission is the local traffic authority.

Charter Ridge also is known as Charter Ridge Road and Charter Ridge Drive. The posted speed limit in the area is 25 miles per hour.

Ms Stoltz, who was accompanied by her young son at the commission session, urged that a stop sign be posted on Charter Ridge at the southeast corner of its T-shaped intersection with Canterbury Lane as a deterrent to speeding. Alternately, she suggested that two stop signs be posted on Charter Ridge, one on the southeast corner and one on the northwest corner of the intersection.

Canterbury Lane, which is a side street that extends eastward from Charter Ridge, already has a stop sign posted at its intersection with Charter Ridge.

Ms Stoltz presented a petition to the commission from Charter Ridge area residents urging action to resolve the speeding problem in the neighborhood.

Ms Stoltz explained that drivers, some of whom are teenagers, tend to speed up and drive too fast as they descend a grade while traveling northward on Charter Ridge, approaching the T-intersection.

“People drive very fast,” she said.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said police will study the driving behavior in the Charter Ridge area in response to Ms Stoltz’s concerns.

The police chief explained that stop signs typically are not posted on local roads to function as  speed control  measures. The presence of a stop sign can create traffic congestion, he noted.

Ms Stoltz suggested that a “speed table” be placed on Charter Ridge to serve as a deterrent to speeding.

The town has placed speed tables on Queen Street and on Key Rock Road to control speeding problems on those two mile-long roads. Queen Street links Church Hill Road to Mile Hill Road. Key Rock Road connects Sugar Street to Hattertown Road and Poverty Hollow Road.

“We’ll look at all options” in terms of speed control on Charter Ridge, Chief Kehoe said.

“There’s a range of options” that can be employed to deter speeding, said commission member Joel Faxon.

“I’m trying to be a pro-active parent” in terms of resolving the Charter Ridge speeding problem, Ms Stoltz said.