Politics & Government

Millburn-Short Hills Traffic, Safety Issues Never Go Away

The Township Committee's Safety Committee is always addressing residents' concerns about traffic and speeding.

Jessica Zirkel-Rubin was crossing Main Street earlier this year to pick up her son from the Millburn Cooperative Nursery School when she was clipped by a car.

The nursery school is located at the edge of Taylor Park at the corner of Ridgewood Road and Main Street, and a car was turning right onto Main Street on a red light.

"Somehow the back tire of the car hit the heel of my left foot," said Zirkel Rubin. "The car did not stop. Luckily, I received only a bruise, but it was a startling reminder of how dangerous the intersection is."

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Children frequently cross the road in that area because of the playground, nursery school and Taylor Park in general. It's a busy area for traffic with commuters, and Zirkel-Rubin said it's an accident waiting to happen.

"In fact, there has been little waiting," she said. "In the past two years, I personally know about two accidents. I was clipped by a car while crossing the street, and a friend was hit and more seriously hurt."

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According to police data, there were six accidents at the intersection in 2008, and one of them involved a pedestrian. There was a reported injury in the accident. In 2007, there were five reported accidents at the intersection.

The anecdotal stories of concerned residents like Zirkel-Rubin and the police data are why the Safety Committee, with police officials, recommended to the full Township Committee to make Ridgewood Road and Main Street a no turn on red. The committee voted on the ordinance change last month.

But it's just one part of the work the Safety Committee—comprised of committee member Daniel Baer and Deputy Mayor Thomas McDermott—is doing to make Millburn-Short Hills roads safer for drivers and pedestrians.

Listening to Residents' Concerns

The committee is scheduled to meet with representatives from the South Mountain neighborhood on Thursday morning to address their concerns about speed. The neighbors came to a Township Committee meeting in October after a Millburn teenager died from his injuries in a car crash on Parkview Road.

"We're always addressing the needs of residents," McDermott said. "They always have concerns about speed, traffic. Times are different today. Everyone has two cars, some have three. There are a lot of drivers. Our population has grown."

Route 78 and Route 24 are crowded with traffic during peak times, and more people are using Millburn-Short Hills as a cut-through, he said. The traffic spills into residential areas when the main roads are clogged with traffic.

Baer said the committee relies on residents to alert them to issues in their neighborhoods. "The residents know better than we do (about where the issues are)," he said.

And those issues are always coming before the Safety Committee. "We address one area and another area pops up," Baer said. "There will always be issues. We've been working to address a number of them."

There are plenty of things the committee has to balance when it considers residents' concerns about traffic issues, including what the police tell them. "Sometimes speed is a perception," McDermott said.

For example, people complained about speeders on Main Street when the parking spaces were removed between Millburn Avenue and Essex Street. The police did speed calculations and found that during the time they checked, only two cars exceeded the speed limit and they only exceeded the limit by two miles per hour, McDermott said.

The increased traffic has also caused pedestrian issues, including near the schools and Taylor Park. That lead to the decision to make the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Main Street a no turn on red.

McDermott said there have been a number of close calls at the intersection and the decision made sense. "Drivers aren't looking to their right (to see people crossing the road)," he said. "The light is a short wait."

But it's not just near Taylor Park, the train stations and the South Mountain section where the committee is examining traffic issues. They also are looking at speeding problems on Old Short Hills Road and in the Poets Section of Short Hills where the roads are wider.

Finding the Answers

One solution people want is for more police presence in their neighborhoods too, which McDermott said can be an issue. "We've done that and we find the people we ticket are the people who live there," he said.

Driver education may be one of the answers to solving some of the traffic issues, both Baer and McDermott said.

While the schools are an area where there are traffic concerns, Baer said he will drive past a school and see everyone on the phone or otherwise distracted.

"We need to recognize safety comes from home first," he said. "We need to set an example. We need to be leaders."

The answers to the problems aren't unilateral. What the committee does is look at each problem individually to determine what fits best with the neighborhood and its issues. McDermott said he defers to the police on most issues because he's not an expert. "I depend on them to give me options," he said. "I need to see what they think is the solution."

One of the measures the committee has examined are speed humps or speed tables. They're a wider version of a speed bump, and a set were installed several years ago on White Oak Ridge Road. Baer said since the installation, there have not been any accidents at the intersection of Hobart Avenue and White Oak Ridge.

"But they're only as good as the people who drive over them," Baer said.

On Wednesday, workers were installing speed humps on Glen Avenue—which are part of the new bicycle path—Parkview Road and Hobart Avenue between the Short Hills Train Station and Old Short Hills Road.

But McDermott said residents throughout town have been requesting speed humps in their neighborhood. "It's not the answer to all problems," he said.

He cited how a neighborhood in Denville wanted speed humps. But once they were installed, the neighbors wanted them removed. "They will work in some places, but they all are different cases," he said.

Baer, who said he's always been an advocate for speed humps, agreed. "Just because you have three speeders and only five cars in your neighborhood doesn't mean it's appropriate," he said. There are other things that can be done, like moving a stop sign, that could work better for a neighborhood.

The unique issues in each neighborhood are why it would be difficult to create a policy on where speed humps should be installed, McDermott said. Each case needs to be weighed on its own merits.

Another measure the committee has examined is to install lighted crosswalks, first near Taylor Park and then near the Millburn Train Station, if they work. A lighted stop sign was added at the intersection of Rector and Spring streets in response to concerns from the neighbors.

McDermott said township officials have tried the "Slow Down, Pedestrian" signs in the past, but people just ran them over. The police, though, are present downtown when middle school and high school students finish school. They walk through the downtown area, and police are at the major intersections during that time.

But they're trying to do more. They've talked about doing "bump outs" downtown, which would help slow down traffic, but it's complicated because some of the roads are county roads, which require city officials to get permission before making alterations, McDermott said.

There are also plans to add bollards along Main Street between Millburn Avenue and Essex Street. The intent is to stop anyone from spilling over onto the road from the sidewalk. McDermott said they are waiting to make sure the plans match what is being done on the proposed Riverwalk between downtown and the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Weighing Cost Against Safety

In the current difficult economic times, the committee also has to weigh the safety concerns against the cost. McDermott said they first examine if they can get public money through federal, state or county grants.

"Then it's a judgement of the cost versus the benefit," he said. "Is it worth it? If not, then we look at what alternatives there are."

But some of the plans aren't extremely expensive, he said, like the plans to install bollards along Main Street. Plus township officials are able to get deals on some of the measures. Baer said the speed humps are costing $8,000 for a total of eight. He has seen them cost as much as $3,000 each. It means the township is saving $16,000 on the project.

"We have to be conscious of people's safety," he said. "We do the best we can to keep prices as low as possible. But if we need it, we will do it."


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