| Author | Message | ||
     Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 4719 Registered: 5-2001 |
Re Radar Guns: The Police Department is always looking for volunteers for the Police Auxiliary. If you want to help with traffic calming initiatives. Sign up. Take the training. Volunteer to do traffic control duty at the intersection of your choice. | ||
| Reflective Citizen Username: Reflective Post Number: 654 Registered: 3-2003 |
Cynicalgirl: I recommend that Tom Reingold call Ms Mead for starters. Then he can move up to Fred. We want your issue resolved first. Fred has to resolve yours before getting involved with  Tom's. Hope all is coming along well at home. | ||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 1067 Registered: 9-2003  |
You could be right, Reflective. I more meant Fred for advice, and to let you guys know how helpful I found him regarding the most immediate angle (lighting). FYI, he was also talking about possible signage to alert drivers to the coming crosswalk, otherside of the trestle. I liked that he was being thorough, and taking the longer view on the issue. That's why I thought he might be helpful here. | ||
| Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 258 Registered: 8-2004 |
sully- While the bumps may be for the golfers in CARS; they are not there because of the golf carts. The bumps were put there to cut down on the CARS that speed through the Golf Island Neighborhood. | ||
| sullymw Citizen Username: Sullymw Post Number: 460 Registered: 5-2001 |
If that were true they would have put them on Burnet St too which is where cars really speed. The speed bumps would be virtually useless for what you say because the cars have to slow down to make a right turn anyway a few feet after the speed bumps. | ||
| Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 263 Registered: 8-2004 |
Sully From what I understood when the bumps were put in, they were to slow down the cars as they turned off of Valley taking a short cut through the Golf Island Neighborhood to get to the middle school, train station, and Maplewood Center. They also help slow people down heading towards valley to help them remember to stop at the stop sign. I don't remember there being a discussion about putting them their because of golf carts. | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 39 Registered: 12-2004 |
O.K. So the bumps are not there for the golfers (although I'm not convinced). That still doesn't explain why there are no bumps on all the other streets that go through to somewhere else, where people are perpetually racing through. I actually saw someone passing another car on Sommer Avenue! No speed bumps there! I live one block over from Tuscan, on a street where people frequently speed getting their kids to school, or cutting through to Prospect or Springfield. No speedbumps here! In fact, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, there are no speed bumps on any other street in town. Which would explain why I concluded that the ones on Pierson are for the golfers. Joan: hello again on a different thread. I was actually referring to the crosswalk directly in front of the entrance to Prospect Pre-school, almost by the Crescent, where there is no light, and a crossing guard only during public school hours, which don't always coincide with the pre-school's hours. Now, I always cross at Tuscan and Prospect, where the light is, but still don't trust anyone in a car. I know the church and the preschool have both approached the town about how to resolve this problem. I'm not sure there's much that can be done, and I don't remember why? Something about paying the crossing guard or insurance or something. And, talk about dangerous crossing guard assignments, the woman at Harvard and Prospect risks her life every damn day, and has to direct a very high volume of traffic to boot. I've seen people go speeding past her when she's in the middle of the street holding up her stop sign. The crossing guard at Seth Boyden has it even worse on Boyden Ave. Can we give all these great crossing guard people a celebratory dinner or something. I would never risk my life the way they do. I hope to God I never, ever see anyone hit by a car at any intersection. Although I've seen it over and over again in my mind, and that's bad enough. As far as citizens using radar guns--sign me up. If they need more radar guns, I'll be happy to take up a collection. I'm sure I could come up with at least a half dozen volunteers from my neighborhood, to clock people, with very little effort. I could have gotten at least 3 speeders in the 5 minutes it took me to load my son in the car to get him to school this morning. While putting up signs ourselves might be an idea, I believe it will be a futile one. I had the police department put that big radar thing--the one that reads your speed--right in front of my house, and watched as people completely ignored it and sped up the street anyway. I think what they need to do is put that thing out and back it up with an officer, or maybe two, nearby to stop people. That way people will learn an officer will be nearby when it's around and they better slow the hell down. Then again, I could always stand in front of my house, by the side of the road, and throw rocks, which is what I want to do most of the time. Then you know I'd be in trouble! | ||
| sullymw Citizen Username: Sullymw Post Number: 468 Registered: 5-2001 |
trust me, the bumps are for the golfers. they are located right at the crossover for the carts and wouldn't serve to slow anyone down for any other purpose since a right turn is required immedicately after you hit the bumps | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 4748 Registered: 5-2001 |
Meandtheboys: Know those yield to pedestrian signs the town has in crosswalks in the village on Saturday morning? They actually seem to work most of the time. Would it be worthwhile for the pre-school to contact the Town and request such signs be placed in the crosswalk you are referring to during the times when the pre-school children are entering and leaving the school? Such a sign might slow enough of the cars down to make the crossing a little safer for the little ones. Another possibility would be park on the church side of Courter and avoid the street crossing problem altogether. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 5170 Registered: 1-2003  |
What about narrowing the street? meandtheboys, it boggles my mind to think that people drive past a crossing guard holding up a stop sign! It makes me wonder if this problem is truly intractible. See the thread on crosswalks I started this past June. I threw a magazine at a car who failed to stop for me in a crosswalk. I realized it was the wrong thing to do, and it also endangered me. The driver got out of the car, got really close to my face and invited me to throw the first punch. | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 54 Registered: 12-2004 |
Joan: I think the reason why the signs work in town is because just about everyone drives at a reasonable speed through town, possibly because of the perpetual traffic jam there. People fly down Prospect, and if they won't stop for pedestrians actually in the crosswalk, I have my doubts they'll stop for a sign. And, as I said in my earlier post, I NEVER cross there anymore! | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 4750 Registered: 5-2001 |
I think the reason the signs work in the Village is that pedestrians are more forceful in the Village than in other parts of town. People cross Maplewood Avenue as if they expect motorists to yield to them and the motorists have gotten the message. This is not the way it was years ago, which is why the yield signs were placed there in the first place. It took a long time and strict enforcement at first for drivers to learn to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks in the Village but now most do. We now need to send the same message to motorists travelling through other crosswalks which have heavy pedestrian traffic, especially those being used by our children. | ||
| witness Citizen Username: Witness Post Number: 12 Registered: 9-2003 |
This is an easy equation. Poor traffic enforcement combined with wide streets breeds speed. Studies regularly show that people only slow down when they know they are at imminent risk of getting a ticket with a stiff penalty, or when the path is too narrow, or bumpy, to navigate at a high rate of speed. Look at what has happened on Springfield Avenue since the traffic modifications. Does it make sense that the average speed on SA is now far slower than most of our residential streets? And our fair town stinks in the other piece of the equation. Months ago I posted a state report on this very thread that showed traffic enforcement had plummeted in the town in recent years. Glad to see I'm not the only one outraged by the danger it creates on our streets and the damage it does to our quality of life. | ||
| Crazyguggenheim Citizen Username: Crazyguggenheim Post Number: 746 Registered: 2-2002  |
Call me crazy, but if periodically cops handed out 100 dollar bills for actually driving the speed limit and slowing down for pedestrians, think of all the good drivers there would be  | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 65 Registered: 12-2004 |
See: "Car crashed in to house" thread on "South Orange Specific." Virtually (no pun intended) the same converstation! | ||
| eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 968 Registered: 5-2001 |
This is a subject that keeps re-appearing because it is a genuine safety and quality of life issue. I have said this before and I'll say it again - it happens because it is allowed to happen. The police do not do enough to discourage speeding in this town. When I first moved to town I would call the police department to complain about speeding on Parker Ave and they would trot out that speed thing and it would calm down for a week and then boom - back to the usual. Speeding kills and it should be treated seriously - cops should give out tickets and be merciless. You have nothing to worry about if you follow the law and if you don't, well, tough. Everyone I know has talked themselves out of a speeding ticket and I understand some of the police officers trying to be friendly, small town cops but it is just too dangerous and widespread. I think the police department should institute quotas for a six to nine month period (just on speeding tickets) and test to see if there are measurable results. To people who say the police have better things to do I say this is as important as any other crime and in fact I think it affects our safety most directly. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 4764 Registered: 5-2001 |
Eliz: I agree. People in our town are being seriously injured and even killed because moving violations are not being taken seriously enough by our law enforcement officials. | ||
| juju's petals Citizen Username: Jujus_petals Post Number: 21 Registered: 5-2003 |
I frequent the intersection of Tuscan and Prospect both in my in my car and while on foot. I'm actually more concerned about crossing that road in my car. I've narrowly avoided being hit when crossing during a green light by cars either speeding to make the light or simply running the red altogether. Serious break screeching, children crying stuff. More than once! I now always pause before going on the green or slow down if it is already green to make sure that me and my children aren't going to be smashed to bits simply for following the light. Anyone who wants to make this intersection safer has my full support. The speeding along Prospect and Tuscan is too much if you can't trust that folks will stop at a red light. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 5237 Registered: 1-2003 |
I'm with you, Eliz. I think speeding on the highway is not the crime it's made out to be, but to me, it is very serious on local streets and roads. | ||
| Marisa Citizen Username: Rissawerm Post Number: 6 Registered: 9-2004 |
I live on Ridgewood and tonight I got honked at for slowing down to pull into my driveway. The person was riding my tail the whole way as I drove 30 down the 25 mph road. Ridgewood is clearly a more busy thoroughfare than the more residential side streets, but the speed limit is still 25. I'm not happy about being honked at but I am more unhappy about the thought that it is going unnoticed. And maybe I am being dramatic - but I am especially not thrilled with the idea of raising a family on this street. |
