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Message |
    
Gadgets
Citizen
Username: Newgadgets4me
Post Number: 2
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 12:37 am: | 
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Is the township waiting until someone is killed and the town is sued before posting appropriate signage regarding a driver's legal obligation to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks? When the town redeveloped the downtown area, the purpose behind narrowing South Orange Ave. and installing brick crosswalks was to increase pedestrian traffic. But when pedestrians step into the crosswalks that are not at traffic lights, they risk their lives or at least serious bodily injury. This is especially true of the crosswalk on Scotland Road near the pharmacy. (Who owns that, by the way?)
I called town officials about this a year ago and was told something would be done. Apart from traffic cops during rush hour (at the lights), nothing has been done. Other towns, like Maplewood, have posted signs or placed road markers in their crosswalks. I was told the original, flimsy road markers South Orange used were stolen. This is a poor excuse. Put up permanent signs and start ticketing people and drivers will pay attention. It shouldn't take injuries (possibly death) and litigation before township officials fulfill their civic responsibility to protect the township's citizens and those shoppers the township desired when it installed the crosswalks. Is this another example of the township not thinking things through entirely when redeveloping the downtown area? Is it not only local businesses but the safety of our community which is subject to the curse of "coming soon?" Spend some of those high tax dollars we are paying on simple things like protecting us when we would rather walk around downtown than drive. Posting signs an appropriate distance from the actual crosswalk would go a long way toward making this a safer community. |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 1573
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 12:46 am: |
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Gadgets,
Please print what you posted and read it verbatim during the remonstrances portion of the next Board of Trustees meeting (June 13). If and when you're challenged by board members or administrative staff, do not back down or feel intimidated. Please feel free to privateline me if you have any questions or hesitation about this.
Bets |
Old and Gray
Citizen
Username: Pastmyprime
Post Number: 108
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 3:18 pm: |
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I missed the point...but there aren't any police officers directing traffic down town at anytime right?
Butch Larkin is a police retiree from some years ago and does a really good job at that intersection, and the other guy (sorry I dont' know his name) are basically crossing guards not regular police.
I remember they used to have those Yeild signs in the middle of most cross walks along S.O. Av, Sloan Street, Now there are two on Walton by the park. But I only see a few now. Maybe drivers keep running them over and they aren't getting replaced? |
Ligeti
Citizen
Username: Ligeti
Post Number: 246
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 3:43 pm: |
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Isn't it too bad so many Maplewood drivers can't see the wisdom of driving slowly in the presence of crosswalks and children? I've never seen anything quite like it. Many of them -- in a frenzy to get to the newest nail salon, perhaps -- roar through these crosswalks with little or no awareness that people actually have a right to cross AHEAD OF THEM. They dream up twisted logic like, "Those annoying children and their parents are standing on the sidewalk, so I don't have to stop for them. The law says so." This is secret code for "I can't be bothered with stopping for pedestrians, yechh!!! My SUV rules!!!" I've seen some very close calls on Prospect, Ridgewood and Jefferson. And as much as I truly admire the community spirit of a place like Maplewood, I am deeply ashamed of how we drive. I've personally replaced the yield signs on Walton on several occasions; it's a losing battle, an oversized vehicle usually blasts them out of their stands and off to the side of the street. |
Ligeti
Citizen
Username: Ligeti
Post Number: 247
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 3:51 pm: |
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In the above post, I meant to include S. Orange drivers, too. |
Dust Buster
Citizen
Username: Coyote
Post Number: 24
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 4:58 pm: |
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Gadgets: Valley street is very bad. I can be in the middle of the street and no one will stop. I was thinking about asking the police to come and give tickets when I go to the Vet. One thing that I have found that they will stop for is when I carry my dog across the street. It works every time. Walking the dog does not work. |
Harry F Sack
Citizen
Username: Harry_sack
Post Number: 2
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 11:01 pm: |
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Want to know where those signs went? They were run over by passing traffic. |
Uhuru
Citizen
Username: Uhuru
Post Number: 73
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, May 28, 2005 - 10:06 am: |
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try crossing irvington avenue by the corner store intersection..youll be on the hood of some jerks car who was making a left turn before you get halfway across the street. (trust me ive made that cross for 4 years now...its awful) |
Dan Shelffo
Citizen
Username: Openspacer
Post Number: 154
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 9:53 am: |
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I know that Valley is a county road so this would not work there but the Village has installed a traffic calming device (a.k.a. a traffic circle) on Montrose Ave at the five point intersection that includes Woodland Place.
I do not like the visual impact this has but I guess as our density increases and traffic avoids the Avenue this is the price the neighborhoods have to pay.
At least one of the pedestrian signs on Walton Road at Farrel Field has been hit by a car. It was replaced by the SOPD.
Today there is still the speed limit trailer that flashes your speed on Harding Drive.
I think we should also try the Drive 25 Keep Kids Alive approach:
http://www.keepkidsalivedrive25.org/
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Old and Gray
Citizen
Username: Pastmyprime
Post Number: 110
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 11:55 am: |
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drive through that circle...who designed it? It allows for easy through traffic going east...and a very abrupt slow and turn around the circle going west.
Shouldn't it have been placed more centered on Montrose Ave so it slowed traffic in both directions?
I'm not a traffic engineer so I will defer to anyone with better input, but my common sense tells me the contractor put it too far to one side. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 7154
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 5:15 pm: |
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Crosswalks are a big pet peeve for me. I posted the following in a Maplewood thread.
I think it's a state-wide problem, and this can only be solved by the state. I realize I'm wishing grandly for unlikely things. As I hope there is a constitutional convention to shift tax burdens from property taxes to income taxes, I also hope the civil engineers in NJ realize that painted lines are not adequate for crosswalks. We need dramatic markings, like the zebra crossings like they have in England. Motorists can see them from a long way off. They stop when someone is waiting to cross.
Then we need to train people how to use crosswalks.
Here is a picture.
I got it from this web page:
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/arrivealive/crossingusing.htm
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Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 1262
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - 2:18 am: |
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That new circle is a pain! I almost hit someone head on who tried to just drive to the side of it. Come to think of it, they would have been the one to almost hit me!
I guess I'm stick on Montrose because South Orange Ave is a nightmare... |
Gadgets
Citizen
Username: Newgadgets4me
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 11:10 pm: |
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When I called the township last year, I was told that they looked into a system with flashing lights for the crosswalks but it was too expensive. Whether or not the expense was truly prohibitive when compared to the safety of pedestrians, I don't suggest we need to even go that far. Just some permanent signs at the sides of the road some distance from the crosswalks warning drivers that a pedestrian crossing is ahead. A sign or two reminding drivers that N.J. law requires drivers yield to pedestrians in the crosswalks. Repaint the white stripes around the brick crosswalks with reflective paint (or put down reflective tape) to make the crosswalks more obvious. Occasionally, set up patrol cars near the crosswalks to ticket drivers that don't yield to pedestrians. That's all. Is that a lot to ask? I don't think so. Do others agree? |
SO Refugee
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 438
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005 - 11:17 pm: |
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I agree wholeheartedly.
Feel free to mention at the BOT meeting on Monday. |
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