This ‘NO THRU STREET’ sign at Surrey Road and Black River Road in Lower Saucon Township was not authorized or installed by the township, which is currently investigating how it and one other identical sign came to be placed at either end of a popular detour route around a bridge closure and through an upscale residential neighborhood.
UPDATE: At the July 18 meeting between Lower Saucon and PennDOT officials, township manager Leslie Huhn said “it was confirmed the signs belong to PennDOT.” She said the signs would be removed Tuesday. Saucon Source has asked why the signs were installed in the first place, and if there is additional information provided this story will be updated again.
Two “No Thru Street” signs have raised the ire of at least one Lower Saucon Township resident since they appeared at the intersections of Surrey and Black River roads and Bingen and Quarter Mile roads a couple days ago. But the township is also calling “foul” over the signs.
The black-and-yellow bru-ha-ha began when a resident posted about the signs on her Facebook page Wednesday.
The Lower Saucon Township Police Departments electronic speed monitoring sign is currently positioned along Quarter Mile Road.
“In typical gov’t style, someone used tax money to erect two false signs,” the resident wrote, in a post that has since been removed. “Do our tax dollars pay for these roads? Why are the residents so special that they get private roads payed (sic) for by our tax dollars while Lower Saucon Township lies to the riff raff. I guess we know where the supervisors have their residences.”
Township Manager Leslie Huhn reached out to Saucon Source Thursday to emphatically confirm that although the signs appear to be official township road signs, they were not installed by the township.
“The Township did NOT erect these signs,” Huhn said. “We did not receive any requests for approval to post these signs. They were erected without our knowledge or approval. In fact, we had a homeowner call and complain about the sign on her property, so she is not aware who placed it there either.”
“We are trying to determine who posted the signs and why,” Huhn added.
Saucon Source has asked whether PennDOT could have posted the signs, and whether posting unapproved street signs is a punishable offense in the township.
The neighborhood in between the two signs is a leafy enclave filled with half-million dollar homes on large lots, where through traffic is normally quite limited.
Since the Bingen Road Bridge was closed by PennDOT for 60 days’ worth of priority repairs in June, however, the Quarter Mile Road-Surrey Road shortcut between Bingen and Black River roads has become a popular bypass around the bridge closure, to the dismay of residents, some of whom have erected signs in their yards that ask motorists to “Slow Down” and “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here.”
A frowny-face sign in front of a home on Quarter Mile Road in Lower Saucon Township asks drivers to “slow down.”
The Lower Saucon Township Police Department has also been monitoring the speed of motorists in the neighborhood, where the speed limit fluctuates between 15 mph (in curves) and 25 mph.
Township police have one of their mobile electronic speed monitoring signs positioned along Quarter Mile Road and police have also issued tickets to speeders.
The official PennDOT detour around the bridge closure takes traffic down Hickory Hill Road, Seidersville Road, Rt. 378 and Black River Road, or vice versa. However, using the Quarter Mile and Surrey roads “bypass” shaves minutes off the signed detour, because it’s shorter and eliminates the need to stop at several traffic lights.
Assuming there are no delays, the bridge is expected to reopen on or about Aug. 13.
The ‘No Thru Street’ sign at Quarter Mile and Bingen roads, near the closed Bingen Road Bridge