State College Seeking Speed Limit Reduction on Park Avenue

State College is looking to reduce the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph on an approximately half-mile section of Park Avenue.

Borough staff determined that the stretch of Park Avenue between North Atherton Street and Shortlidge Road along the northern edge of the Penn State campus appears to meet the definition of a residence district in the state vehicle code eligible for a 25 mph limit posting, transportation engineer Ron Seybert told the State College Transportation Commission on Tuesday.

Borough Manager Tom Fountaine has sent a letter to PennDOT requesting a review, which has been forwarded to the department’s traffic unit that performs such studies, Seybert said.

“It is a state route so they would have to do that investigation to determine if it meets that criteria as a residence district,” he said. “If so, then it would be eligible to be posted at 25mph.”

Transportation Commission Chair Hugh Mose said the speed limit on Park Avenue within the borough limits has been a matter of interest for the commission at least since a Penn State graduate student was killed by a speeding driver three years ago.

Ahmed M. Alqubaisi was driving at an unsafe speed along the 200 block of East Park Avenue on Sept. 12, 2023, when he lost control of his car, according to State College police. He traveled across the road and onto the sidewalk where he hit 25-year-old Lovisa Arnesson-Cronhamre, who was jogging at the time.

Arnesson-Cronhamre died hours later. Alqubaisi pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter the following March.

It was one of two fatal vehicle-pedestrian crashes on the stretch of Park Avenue over the last decade. In February 2016, 66-year-old Josef Blunschi sustained fatal injuries when he was struck by a car while crossing Park Avenue at the McKee Street intersection. No charges were filed in that case.

In response to a question from Mose, Seybert said he has not been involved in any discussions with College Township about possible speed reductions on Park Avenue east of the borough line around Bigler Road.

“There had been some discussions in the past about improving some pedestrian crossings from the athletic fields to east halls, making some more designated crossings, making some improvements, but I haven’t heard of anything that’s gained traction yet,” he said.

Nearly all streets within the borough have 25 mph speed limits. Park Avenue between Atherton and the borough line is one of six street segments with a 35 mph limit.

The others are:

– South Atherton Street between Prospect Avenue and the south borough line

– Blue Course Drive between Whitehall Road and the west borough line near Bayberry Drive.

– East College Avenue between the east borough line and High Street

– University Drive between the north borough line near Hastings Road and the south borough line near Marylyn Avenue

– Whitehall Road between the east borough line near Campbell Road and the west borough line near Blue Course Drive