This is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to Jackson Board of Education President Marvin Krakower, the Jackson Township Council and police and fire officials.
Residents of London Drive in Jackson’s Flair development are concerned about the size of vehicles that are using their streets to reach a JTMUA construction site. It concerns the construction of a water treatment plant by the Jackson Township Municipal Utilities Authority on the emergencyvehicle only road which connects to a part of London Drive in Jackson’s Flair development.
“Mr. Krakower, I am attaching pictures to this e-mail. Jan. 22 was the first real day of work for starting the new water treatment plant construction. As you will see from the pictures, there is a safety concern here. In the first picture, on the right side, note the child who just came down the hill on his skateboard and didn’t know what to do with the huge truck in his way.
“The other pictures show a problem with the school bus having to go onto the curb so as to not lose any more time. The last picture shows the truck finally getting turned around and going back up the hill toward the Holman School. The time, 3 p.m., when the children are getting out of school. We have been assured by David Harpell of the JTMUA that this won’t happen again. Well, I also believe in the tooth fairy.
“Why is the Board of Education allowing this when there is a 40-foot-wide easement in the back and the construction vehicles can come in that way? The local kids use this hill to skateboard, bike ride and sled down. Going forward, this water treatment plant (which, by the way, is also going to be an operations facility) will be accepting truck and tanker deliveries.
“My question is this: A new road is, without a doubt, going to have to be built on London Drive or elsewhere. Why not do this the right way from the start and build the access road in the back to begin with? When everyone, i.e., the school principal, PTO president, police and fire folks agreed to this access, were they told about the 40- foot easement in the back? I think not. This is an accident waiting to happen. Everything I am saying is verifiable.”
I am also concerned about the issue of safety, specifically when large trucks associated with the JTMUA project are blocking an emergency access road to this part of Jackson (part of London Drive).
Marilyn Hamburg
Jackson