Metuchen on road to greater safety

By JESSICA D’AMICO
Staff Writer

A Metuchen street where a pedestrian’s life was lost may soon become safer.

Grove Avenue — where a 75-year-old man was killed in November 2013 while attempting to traverse a crosswalk at Christol Street — has become the focus of safety efforts by officials and residents.

“We all recognize that Grove Avenue has many, many issues that we have to address,” Councilman Reed Leibfried said at the Oct. 5 council meeting.

A resident sought to address one area of the thoroughfare at that meeting. Sharon Jelleme, who lives a couple of blocks from Grove Avenue, came before the council with a petition signed by 198 fellow residents, asking that pedestrian crossing lights be installed where Grove is intersected by Mason Drive.

“Getting across there is extremely dangerous,” Jelleme told the council. “It’s very hard to see people standing at that corner as you’re coming down in your car.”

The intersection, which sits in front of Metuchen High School, is staffed with crossing guards in the morning and afternoon hours when students are arriving and departing.

“What I’m hearing is that it’s a much broader issue for other times of the day and for other people,” Borough Administrator Jennifer Maier said.

Maier added that she and Borough Engineer Tom Herits had determined that it would cost $25,000 to install lights at the intersection, which doesn’t include engineering costs.

“It’s always preferable as a municipality to try to get grant funds for a project, especially in kind of lean economic times, but whether that would be done outside the grant cycle with borough money … would be the decision of the mayor and council …,” Maier said, adding that the 2015 budget is already set, precluding the project’s funding to come from it.

Mayor Thomas Vahalla pointed out that a previous grant provided funding for a lighted crosswalk at Grove and Christol Street, along with three other intersections.

“We can’t just rely on state or federal money to help us do important things like that,” Councilman Jay Muldoon said, adding, “It’s terrifying to drive out of [the high school in the morning].”

Leibfried agreed.

“I run by this crosswalk literally every day, so I can attest firsthand about the limited visibility down there,” he said.

Jelleme said after the meeting that she and her children, ages 7 and 8, visit the high school often for exercise and play.

“As a pedestrian, it is so scary and frustrating that cars will not stop for us to cross,” said Jelleme, adding that Leibfried has been helpful to her in her efforts. “Sometimes one side will stop and with me in the middle of the road, waving my arms to get their attention to stop, the other side will just keep driving by at very high speeds. My fingers are crossed every time that I do not get hit. I have been complaining about this to my friends for about a year and finally decided to do something about it.”

Leibfried also praised Jelleme for taking the lead on the issue.

Council President Ron Grayzel recommended that Jelleme’s petition be presented to the Traffic & Transportation Committee for consideration. The committee would then make recommendations about it to the council.

The Traffic & Transportation Committee is also slated to consider the question of lowering the speed limit on Grove Avenue from 35 to 25 mph after an Oct. 14 public hearing on the matter.

Police Chief David Irizarry pointed out that sections of Grove Avenue already have a 25 mph speed limit, including the area near the high school and the intersection of Grove and Christol Street, where the pedestrian was killed.

While he said he fully supports lowering the speed limit, Irizarry added that speed is not the only issue.

“We have to raise the level of awareness among drivers that people are out and about,” he said, adding that the recent council approval for hiring an additional police officer will help Cpl. Kenneth Bauer, the borough’s designated traffic safety officer, to do even more toward making the streets safer.

“Hopefully in the future as the population grows in town, I will get a couple more traffic safety officers and have a traffic safety unit,” Irizarry said.

At the Oct. 19 council meeting, Grayzel — who spearheaded efforts to lower the speed limit — thanked committee co-chairs Tyreen Reuter and Jay Galeota for organizing the hearing at which borough officials and residents spoke about the need for greater safety measures on Grove Avenue.

“A lot of very, very significant information was shared with the public,” Grayzel said. “The game plan is, the Traffic & Transportation Committee at its November [11] meeting will deliberate over the issues raised at the hearing and will make recommendations to the Borough Council at its following meeting.”

Councilman Jim Wallace also said the hearing went well, and Leibfried later praised Metuchen High School Principal Bruce Peragallo’s presentation that evening.

“That meeting was a resounding success,” Leibfried said, adding that support was overwhelming for lowering the speed limit.

The public hearing on the matter — and the outcry in favor of the change — helped the borough avoid having to conduct a traffic study in order to change the speed limit, officials said.

“In this case, I think everyone is aware that it should be done,” Irizarry said. “It shows that the system works, and I think in this case, it will.”

Another potential change on Grove Avenue would be the addition of an 8-foot bike lane if the borough receives grant funding for it. The council approved a resolution to apply for an approximately $300,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the undertaking.

“We’re really doing excellent work as far as pedestrian safety,” Leibfried said.

Still, the councilman said more municipal budget funds should be allocated to pedestrian safety initiatives.

“We can’t just always wait for a grant,” Leibfried said. “Pedestrian safety is too important; people’s lives are too important.”