{"id":111145,"date":"2026-02-11T15:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/111145\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T15:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:08:06","slug":"lower-merion-and-narberth-want-to-make-montgomery-ave-safer-heres-how-you-can-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/111145\/","title":{"rendered":"Lower Merion and Narberth want to make Montgomery Ave. safer. Here’s how you can weigh in."},"content":{"rendered":"

Lower Merion<\/a> and Narberth<\/a> are seeking residents\u2019 input as they embark on an effort to make Montgomery Avenue safer for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. <\/p>\n

At a meeting Feb. 3, officials from the township and borough laid out longstanding safety issues on Montgomery Avenue and took feedback from attendees, many of whom said they no longer feel safe walking and driving along one of the Main Line<\/a>\u2019s busiest arteries. <\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Lower Merion and Narberth $340,540 to study a seven-mile stretch of Montgomery Avenue, from Spring Mill Road to City Avenue, through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All<\/a> program. The program awards funds to municipalities working to limit roadway deaths and serious injuries. The study will inform safety improvements at 35 intersections on that stretch of Montgomery Avenue. <\/p>\n

Officials cited a long list of safety issues on Montgomery Avenue, from out-of-date pedestrian push buttons, sidewalk curb ramps, and crosswalk lighting, to regular speeding and weaving by drivers. Without proper turn lanes and signals, drivers making left turns on Montgomery Avenue often slow traffic and can endanger pedestrians and other motorists, township representatives added.<\/p>\n

The traffic-calming effort comes at the heels of Lower Merion\u2019s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan<\/a>, which was published in 2025. The plan calls for eliminating all roadway fatalities and serious injuries in Lower Merion, with a goal of achieving a 50% reduction by 2030. <\/p>\n

Unlike previous traffic studies that focused on individual intersections, this project will take a more comprehensive approach, officials said. <\/p>\n

Between 2020 and 2024, there were 532 reportable crashes on Montgomery Avenue between Spring Mill Road and City Avenue. A reportable crash is defined as a crash resulting in an injury or vehicle damage serious enough to require towing. Around 2.5% of such crashes involved a serious injury. Just over half involved a minor injury, and the rest, around 46%, involved property damage only. In the same time frame, there were 920 minor crashes, or incidents with no injury and no need for towing. <\/p>\n

In total, 3,767 crashes were reported in Lower Merion at-large between 2019 and 2023. In that time frame, Lower Merion Township accounted for 8% of crashes with a fatality or serious injury within Montgomery County<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Red-light enforcement cameras are coming to Lower Merion. Here\u2019s what to know about the location, fines, and more.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pennsylvania is the only state in the country where local police officers are prohibited from using radar for speed enforcement, said Andy Block, Lower Merion\u2019s police superintendent, making it difficult for his department to enforce speed limits. <\/p>\n

At the meeting, residents told stories of their own crashes and near-misses on Montgomery Avenue. <\/p>\n

Kim Beam, a social worker at Bryn Mawr<\/a> Hospital, used to walk to work on Montgomery Avenue every day before she was nearly hit by a car a few weeks ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had an event which would have made me one of your fatalities,\u201d Beam said, describing her walk to work as poorly lit, contributing to dangerous, and almost deadly, conditions for pedestrians like herself. <\/p>\n

Residents of Lower Merion and Narberth are encouraged to complete a survey that will inform officials as they develop a preliminary set of safety recommendations. A public meeting will be held once the recommendations are developed to gather additional feedback.<\/p>\n

Residents can fill out the survey online<\/a> or print it out<\/a> and drop it off at Narberth or Lower Merion\u2019s municipal buildings. Completed forms can also be mailed to Brandon Ford, Assistant Township Manager, Lower Merion Township, 75 E. Lancaster Avenue Ardmore<\/a>, PA 19003. <\/p>\n

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer\u2019s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com\/donate<\/a>. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org\/supporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lower Merion and Narberth are seeking residents\u2019 input as they embark on an effort to make Montgomery Avenue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[183,185,184,186,53075],"class_list":["post-111145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-montgomery-avenue-lower-merion-narberth-traffic-calming-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}