Council Supports Traffic Calming Efforts in Borough

New Providence resident Christopher J. Dalton wrote a letter to the Mayor and Borough Council in February expressing concern over pedestrian safety near the New Providence Train Station.

Now, seven months later, the Council is addressing ways to improve pedestrian safety near the train station, and working on a separate project to slow down drivers and increase driver visibility along Pearl Street.

In his letter, Dalton states, “Every day, scores of commuters, parents and children cross that intersection. It has been a perennial disaster waiting to happen. Notwithstanding a new state law, enacted nearly a year ago, mandating that drivers stop for pedestrians in a designated crosswalk, more often than not, I and my fellow pedestrians must wait for five, ten, twenty cars to whip past before either one stops or there is a break in traffic permitting us to cross Springfield — provided someone following on doesn’t try to pass a stopping car on the right.”

Following up on his request, Borough Engineer Andrew Hipolit and the Engineering Department contacted Union County and their consultant, Birdsall Services Group, asking for a solar powered pedestrian crossing signal be installed at that location and be included with the county’s current plans for roadway improvements on Springfield Avenue. Currently, there is only a pedestrian crossing signal with flashing lights that alerts motorists that someone wants to cross the street.

“We spoke with the county and they are in favor of it,” Hipolit said. “They said they would put the improvement in as a change order and pay for it, as long as the Borough Council passed a resolution that you would support having one there and that you would take over the maintenance of it afterwards, which we do anyway.”

The council unanimously approved a resolution in favor of this change.

Hipolit also spoke with the Council about making improvements on Pearl Street at the intersections of Central Avenue and Union Avenue.

“There are about 4,000 cars that travel on Central each day, about half in each direction,” Hipolit said. “Because the angle of [Pearl] Street is at 45 [degrees] to Central, cars leave Central Avenue at speeds of somewhere between 30 to 40 mph, [driving] up Pearl Street at a speed that is probably undesirable to the police department.”

Hipolit is proposing bringing Pearl Street to a 90-degree angle at Central Avenue, making the cutoff roadway area a grass area with a sidewalk.

“What this will cause is cars traveling either off of Central or off of Pearl will have to come to a stop first, look in both directions, and then make their turn in whatever direction they want to go,” Hipolit said. “We already know by doing traffic counts that the largest movements are Central heading west, left on Pearl or Central heading east, right on Pearl. “We agreed that once you slow down that intersection, it will slow down the entire length of the street because once [drivers] hit a lower speed, they’ll tend to stay at a lower speed.”

At the other end of Pearl Street at Union Avenue, Hipolit said he is proposing that certain trees and bushes be cut down and replaced with something else to increase driver visibility.

“If you’re coming down Pearl, trying to make the left or a right onto Union, if you look left, there are some trees and some bushes that are in the way on the house on the southeast corner,” he said.

Hipolit said some of the trees are on borough-owned property, while others may be on a resident’s property. In both cases on Pearl Street, he said the Engineering department would approach the property owners individually to discuss the plans.

Hipolit said he hopes to have final plans in place this winter, advertise for bids early next year and construct any improvements by early summer.