LAWRENCE: Planning Board gets Complete Streets presentation

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   More than 150 communities across the United States have committed to the “complete streets” concept — and the township’s Sustainable Mobility Committee would like to add Lawrence Township to that list.
   Peter Kremer of the Sustainable Mobility Committee outlined the philosophy of “complete streets” — which means a street should be safe for bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as motorists — before the Planning Board Monday night, in search of the board’s endorsement.
   And while the Planning Board was receptive to the concept, it postponed action until a future meeting. Planning Board Chairman Paul Penna suggested that the committee should seek endorsement from Township Council.
   Mr. Kremer told the planners that the New Jersey is one of the first states to adopt the “complete streets” program for streets under the control of the state Department of Transportation. Monmouth County, Montclair and West Windsor Township have committed to the “complete streets” initiative, he added.
   ”It’s creeping up,” Mr. Kremer said.
   There are many reasons for adopting the “complete streets” concept, he said. It improves pedestrian and bicyclist safety, encourages a healthy lifestyle, reduces congestion and it is sustainable, he said.
   Making a street “complete” could be as simple as reducing the lane width, striping the shoulders for bicycle lanes and installing sidewalks, Mr. Kremer said. “Complete streets” could be urban streets or rural roads. Providing a shoulder on rural roads for pedestrians would reduce pedestrian deaths, he said.
   In New Jersey, about 150 pedestrians are killed every year, Mr. Kremer said. He also noted that while Americans walk or use their bicycles less than their counterparts in Germany and the Netherlands, more pedestrians and bicyclists are killed in this country than in those countries.
   Turning to Lawrence Township, Mr. Kremer said some steps could be taken to make Bergen Street a complete street. Bergen Street is a busy road that is used by residents to reach Village Park and a segment of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, he said.
   ”Bergen Street is 34 feet wide. That’s pretty wide for a residential street. I dare you to drive 25 miles per hour (the posted speed limit), if you don’t think we need a ‘complete streets’ policy,” Mr. Kremer said.
   Painting a solid yellow line down the middle of Bergen Street, creating 7-foot-wide shoulders and 10-foot-wide travel lanes would encourage motorists to obey the speed limit, Mr. Kremer said. Speed humps, which have been installed on other streets in Lawrence, would not work on this road, he said.
   Pointing to the 40-foot-wide intersection of Bergen Street and Cold Soil Road, he offered some suggestions to make it a complete street — starting with a median on Bergen Street. It would direct motorists who are turning left onto Bergen Street into the proper lane, rather than cutting across the northbound lane.
   Mayor Michael Powers, who sits on the Planning Board, said that “a can of paint” would work. Restriping a street is not considered a capital improvement, which would likely require a significant amount of money to be spent.
   Planning Board member Keith Dewey praised the Sustainable Mobility Committee and its presentation. Restriping the streets is a “more natural way” to accomplish the complete street initiative’s goals, he said.
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