PSA: Please note you do not need to donate in order to sign the petition -- the change.org platform has it set up so it can appear that way, but the donation is not associated with the actual cause. Instead, it boosts the petition's visibility within the change.org universe. Absolutely no need to donate. 

5.14.24 - we had an awesome turnout at the Lanc Twp Board of Supervisors meeting!  Thank you so much to all the neighbors and Township residents who came out to show your support. We presented our brief statements, qualitative findings, and petition. The Supervisors kindly put us early in the meeting and allowed everyone else who wished to speak to do so. We'll be following up soon with defined measures of success or failure re: traffic calming efforts on S West End and additional next steps. If you'd like to see us on WGN (who tipped them off?? not me!), see us here!

5.7.24 - 200+ signatures! Way to go, everyone. Keep sharing so we can ensure motorists follow the existing speed limit and yield laws on S West End, allowing us to safely cross our street - and live on it without fear of a crash landing in our front yard.

4.30.24 - confirmed that Lanc Twp has not applied for ARLE funding. ARLE grants (from the Automated Red Light funds from the state of PA) have funded over 9 million dollars in safer streets projects throughout Lancaster County, including for Lancaster City, Manheim Township, Millersville, and many more. Lancaster Township need just apply, and much of our safety needs could be funded.

Please note - as some people have been a bit confused - we are not suggested that a red light camera is at all appropriate for S West End. Rather, we have learned about available funding on the table for PA governments to apply for in order to make their own neighborhoods safer by any means they feel is appropriate. Please remember we are not the engineers solving the problem, but the residents voicing our concern.  

4.29.24 - word is spreading! Keep sharing to get us to 500 signatures by 5.13.24! 

4.24.24 update - MONDAY 5/13/24 @ 6 pm, 1240 Maple Ave - we are on the agenda at the Lancaster Township Board of Supervisors meeting! Township AND city residents please join us to show our support for a safer S West End. The Township has been very responsive and got us on the schedule right away. Looking forward to it! 

4.22.24 update -- HELP US COLLECT MORE DATA! Count the number of drivers it takes to yield to you when crossing S West End. Input on this spreadsheet, text 773-798-9915, or email to swestendsafety@gmail.com. Thanks to everyone who has sent us data - your responses have been recorded :) 

INCREASE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ON S WEST END AVENUE

Lancaster Township and City children and adults cannot safely cross S West End Avenue, despite multiple crosswalks. We need evidence-based traffic calming measures before an inevitable tragedy draws attention to the drivers' failure to yield, speeding, and distracted driving of people using S West End. 

On Monday, May 13, 2024 at 6 pm, we are asking Lancaster Township Board of Supervisors to hear our community's concerns about S West End. State funding is available through ARLE (automated red light funding) for Lancaster Township to determine their own engineering solutions that will ensure motorists follow the existing posted laws on S West End. Lancaster Township is just the only Lancaster County jurisdiction that has yet to apply for ARLE funding.

Affordable, evidence-based traffic calming measures have been used on many similar roadways throughout Pennsylvania - and in Lancaster itself. These options include crosswalk visibility enhancements​, rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs), speed humps, or even a simple stop sign. RRFBs can reduce crashes up to 47%, and increase the likelihood of a motorist yielding by up to 98%. Please note, we have received a few emails from concerned citizens - most of whom do not live in Lancaster - who have strong feelings about S West End not needing traffic calming measures. We are not the engineers - we are the families who live here and have had our children almost struck by cars, and crashes that land on our front lawns. We are simply stating our concerns, as residents, about the street we live on. 

Driver speed at the time of impact is directly correlated to whether the child or adult will live or die. A person hit by a car going 35 mph is five times more likely to die than a person hit by a car going 20 mph. The posted speed limit on S West End is 25 mph. Based on a PennDOT/Lancaster speed study done in 2022, 15% of drivers are going 35 mph OR MORE on S West End at all times during the day. 

Don't let a pedestrian tragedy become the reason we all band together. Let's prevent it before more accidents happen and get what we need to safely enjoy our neighborhood. 

Lancaster Township has said in the past that S West End is "arterial," and that it doesn't merit certain additional safety measures. Arterial roads are generally major streets - multilane roads with high speed limits and vehicle volumes. S West End has a one-car travel lane on each side and a posted speed limit of 25 mph, making it barely arterial, according to the standard definition. But - even if it is defined as arterial, that doesn't negate putting more evidence-based, affordable traffic calming measures in place.

The Township also says that because we have crossing guards two times a day during the school year, it is enough. While the crossing guards do help an enormous amount, unfortunately it is not enough for those of us who live in this neighborhood and have to cross the street as pedestrians frequently, whether school is in session or not. And sometimes, crossing guards do not come to work. Fortunately this is a rare event. But as an example: on Monday 4/22/24, no crossing guards were there. Over 20 drivers failed to yield for parents and children. One driver even shouted obscenities at a mother and young child. Finally, one parent walked out into the street to force drivers to stop. Common sense observation by anyone who drives or walks on S West End makes it clear that current traffic calming efforts are not enough to ensure pedestrian and driver safety.

Per Pennsylvania law, all drivers must yield to pedestrians at intersections (whether the crosswalk is marked or not) and at marked crosswalks (whether they're at intersections or not). That might seem shocking considering our community's generally discourteous and unsafe use of roadways, but it's true. 

Let's use our collective will to make change happen. Please sign this petition today so we can bring our evidence-based requests and data to make our neighborhood safe for pedestrians and drivers alike. 

Image source: Lancaster Online, Car Flips in Crash on S West End Avenue