Halloween safety suggestions for city

Alice Milosz of Lambertville
    I’ve always loved Halloween, and I really love living in a town that embraces this holiday as Lambertville does with over-the-top house decorations and festivities.
   The homeowners here do such a spectacular job to decorate in such innovative ways that it attracts many visitors from miles around to visit and trick-or-treat on Halloween night.
   Lambertville has a well-deserved reputation as “the place to go” on Halloween. Every year, this event is getting more and more popular with tourists.
   In particular, the five blocks on North Union Street — north of York Street — are always filled with Halloween revelers, many of whom are families with small children and strollers.
   As a result, it is difficult to maneuver this very crowded stretch since it is in almost total darkness — no street lights here — and has many uneven sidewalks.
   The town volunteers haplessly attempt to direct oncoming traffic while trying to keep the crowds from spilling into the street. For them, this must be an exercise in frustration since there’s no place to walk, but the street since the sidewalks are mobbed with people.
   Halloween 2009 falls on a Saturday so we can expect even more visitors next year!
   If the town were to address several safety concerns, next year¹s Halloween could be so much safer and smarter:
   • Close North Union Street to traffic from York Street to Buttonwood Street, including the adjoining side streets, from 6 to 9 p.m.
   That way, revelers could walk safely in this most popular and congested stretch of town on Halloween night.
   During this time, all vehicle traffic could be detoured to the perimeter streets of North Main, Clinton, York, Elm and Buttonwood.
   • Ban all street parking in this area for that three-hour time period.
   That would allow for a comfortable pedestrian “mall” in this stretch of town without having to maneuver around any tightly parked cars.
   • Place temporary street lighting in this area so everyone is not stumbling over uneven sidewalks in the black of night.
   • Designate public parking areas — Acme parking lot, etc. — in advance or post parking designated signs on Halloween day so out-of-town visitors know where they can park safely and easily for this event.
   I think this would perfect what already is a wonderful event in Lambertville!
Alicia Milosz
Lambertville