Tuesday, August 2, 2011

South Avenue Reconstruction at Issue

A reader has posted a comment on my peninsula story that is related to another project, the reconstruction of South Avenue:

Off topic Bernice: Not for show Aug 2nd Legal Noitce to fix South Ave in Courier news. 1. No funds - this was an old trick towns would use to see how much a project would cost as the contractor did all the work to figure out his expenses. Legally a job can NOT be advertised unless funds ARE available 2. Did merchants give input to those islands? 3. Is NJDOT going to take it over at RT 28 like the rest of county towns have done? 4. Town spent a ton of money a few years ago to fix it. Is the designer or builder going to pay for the flawed work back then? 5. What happended to all the paving machines the City bought 5 years ago to do this work on its own? 6. Will it be renamed Bob Fararra Way as he was
constatntly the one pushing for this correction?

Typos notwithstanding, the writer raises some interesting points. At a recent City Council meeting, it became evident that the governing body was heeding the concerns of merchants over the "bump-outs" and not necessarily the opposing view of the civic organization, Friends of Sleepy Hollow, that the sidewalk projections into the roadway gave pedestrians a greater margin of safety in crossing the busy road..

The city did indeed spend a lot of money on the original reconstruction, which turned out to be flawed and had many later patches. The time for pursuing the original contractor may have elapsed. Meanwhile, the city has no permanent director for the Department of Public Works & Urban Development, which may also have complicated the situation. In addition, Councilman Adrian Mapp has been adamant in his view that the state should shoulder the maintenance of Route 28, while state and county officials each say the other is responsible.

I believe the move for action is based on the need for safety and not wanting to spend more months or years on who should be doing what about South Avenue. Your comments are welcome on this topic and I will try to get more background on the blog.

--Bernice

6 comments:

  1. The bump outs are less of a pedestrian safety issue than you might think simply because there are very few pedestrians crossing the street on South Avenue. But if you must have something, there should be unambiguously visible painted crosswalks, and yellow "STATE LAW, YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS" signs. That would be much safer than the poorly marked and not so logically placed bumpouts. Plus, if in a few years the crossing patterns change, you simply repaint the crosswalks and move the signs. This is the way every other town does it, why not here?
    And while we're at it, Front Street between Park and Watchung is a very, very long block, has tons of pedestrian crossings at all hours, yet no designated crosswalk. How come? Is it because it's just Latinos who now do most of the crossings? Whatever the reason, if Plainfield adopted a consistent way of designating pedestrian crosswalks on Front, on South, at the high school, at Netherwood station, etc, we might begin to get near universal compliance instead of near universal derision.

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  2. I agree with Anonymous. The bump outs are seldom used by pedestrians and pose a threat to drivers. They slow traffic, try passing someone making a left turn into a business, and try avoiding them when two large vehicles are passing from opposite directions. South Ave. is a mess.

    Who made the money from the paving machines the City bought and has not used. Someone needs to take the heat for wasting our money. I'd also like to know who is in charge of Park Ave. as a deep pot hole gets bigger every day near the intersection of Park and W. 8th.

    Bob Bolmer

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  3. Pat Turner KavanaughAugust 2, 2011 at 12:31 PM

    Bernice: FOSH certainly did fight for traffic safety on South Avenue, especially at the Netherwood Train Station where a number of students who use the tunnel to get to and from school, as well as train and bus commuters, as did Netherwood Neighbors. After careful consideration, the Planning Board also endorsed traffic-calming through the bump-outs.

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  4. Looked at the legal ad. Plans can not be seen at City Hall and only the minimun of time to give a bid ?? So much for "local" participation in this project !! How many town sub contractors will be asked to bid on this job and city residents working on the project, like Bob asked PW to allow ??

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  5. @ Bob, The bumpouts pose no threat to drivers who obey the 25 mph speed limit on South Ave. You're really complaining about having to wait behind someone making a left turn? If you can't wait a few seconds, try 7th St, or go up to Rte 22 and go as fast as you can. South Ave. is meant to be a pedestrian friendly commercial area. If Mike Bloomberg were mayor of Plainfield, he might close it to car traffic completely.

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  6. To be blunt: South Avenue is not and has not ever been a “Pedestrian” corridor. If we all listen to 11:14 then we might as well close all the businesses as their clientele would not be travelling on South Avenue. The bump outs are not working, dangerous for vehicles as they are hard to see at night, force potential clients of the businesses away, eliminate useful on street parking for the businesses and in one instance cause vehicles to cross the center line to exit.
    I also find it hard to believe that the commuters in Plainfield are that inept compared to commuters in Fanwood as they seem to get across the street with out the need for bump outs and a 35 mph speed limit.
    This issue seems to only have the backing of a few non stake holding residents and not the property and business owners of South Avenue.
    With all this focus on traffic near the train station no one seems to mind that there is going to be a 4 story apartment building built across from the train station that has sorely inadequate parking which the same planning board passed. If you like Elizabeth parking or lack of and traffic issues of commuters having to doge in-between cars, well we’re going to get it.
    But let’s keep focusing on the bump outs?

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