Could 'Complete Streets' Come to Maplewood and South Orange?
Bike lanes, bumpouts, new public space, traffic calming — Complete Streets concepts purportedly make streets safer and improve quality of life.
Complete Streets is a concept that is sweeping cities and towns across the country as well as globally. And, now, a few advocates are hoping to bring it to Maplewood.
Even casual observers know that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been increasing public space by converting streets to commons (see Times Square) and has been working to calm traffic and improve bike safety with new bicycle lanes throughout the New York City.
Likewise, cities from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City to Guadelajara, Mexico have been implementing or considering Complete Streets concepts.
But is this a concept that can work in a small town in New Jersey?
Find out on Thursday, January 26 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Maplewood Memorial Library. Sheree Davis, Bureau of Commuter & Mobility Strategies, New Jersey Department of Transportation, will be speaking at An Evening for Well-Planned Streets & A Livable Community!, sponsored by Two Towns for Complete Streets, the South Orange/Maplewood Bicycle Coalition, and SOMA on FOOT.
Davis will discuss how Complete Streets is coming to towns in New Jersey like Hoboken, Montclair and Jersey City. She will also explain the Complete Streets concept, which considers the needs of all citizens — meaning those traveling on foot and by bicycle as well as those in motor vehicles — when transportation decisions are made.
According to a release from the sponsors, "Traffic congestion is reduced, street improvements are made, pedestrians as well as drivers, bike riders, seniors, the handicapped, and parents with strollers are included in the mix."
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A and refreshments. There will also be eco-friendly door prizes to be raffled off and informational tables by local environmental groups including SOMA on FOOT and the South Orange/Maplewood Bicycle Coalition.
The even is free and open to the public.
Shamrock1224
10:35 am on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Unfortunately, speed bumps/humps and bump outs are not the complete answer. People are driving too fast. We have humps on Sommer Av, and cars still come flying off Prospect right up to the first hump (between Osborne & Hubert) stop, and then continue flying down Sommer Av to the 2nd hump (between Hubert & Valley), and then stop at the hump again. What's scary is that kids use Osborne to walk towards Tuscan School. I saw a guy blowing his horn the other morning, when the woman in front of him (going up Sommer) stopped for the school bus picking up kids. He wanted her to go around the bus! People slow down!