Middlesex County Comprehensive Traffic Safety Program Coordinator David Gregor (l-r), New Brunswick Police Director Peter Mangarella, Middlesex County Freeholder H. James Polos, Edison Mayor Antonia Ricigliano, New Brunswick Mayor James M. Cahill and Edison Deputy Police Chief Camelo Vaticano unveil the mobile stop sign display at a press event in New Brunswick on May 4. EDISON — Motorists driving along Woodbridge Avenue are being reminded of a new state law requiring motorists to stop the entire time a pedestrian is in a crosswalk.
Edison is the second town to use Middlesex County’s new mobile stop sign display. The display is one part of the Middlesex County Comprehensive Traffic Safety Program, for which the county received a $96,650 grant from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety to help improve the safety of roadway users.
Officials first unveiled the sign display in New Brunswick earlier in May.
Any municipality in the county can borrow the mobile sign at no cost to them and place it in high-traffic areas to inform and remind pedestrians and drivers about the “Stop for Pedestrians” law, which formerly required drivers to yield.
“This mobile sign will provide local police departments a highly visible tool to use at intersections in their communities, where crosswalk violations pose a threat to pedestrians,” said Freeholder H. James Polos, chair of the county’s Public Works and Transportation Committee. “This is a great tool and an example of a great shared service utilizing grant dollars to create a public safety opportunity.”
On May 23, Polos joined Edison Mayor Antonia Ricigliano, Deputy Police Chief Carmelo Vaticano, Capt. Dave Pemberton, and Patrolman Donald Ship and county Director of Public Works David Campion to announce Edison’s participation and to make more people aware of the new law, which went into effect last year.
The sign reads: “New law: Stop for pedestrians at intersections … Pedestrians use caution.” It also tells motorists that failure to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk will result in two points on a driver’s license and a $200 fine.
Ricigliano said the sign will be in place at Woodbridge Avenue and Gurley Road for the next two weeks. Last year, a 12-year-old student at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School was injured after being hit by a car at the intersection.
“Woodbridge Avenue is a county road, and we have an opportunity to move the sign around,” the mayor said. “We just thought the location was fitting because of the accident.”
Last February the township was awarded a $10,000 Education and Enforcement Grant from the state. Ship said the township is continuing to use the grant by putting up more signage throughout Edison and educating the public on pedestrian safety.
“It’s ongoing and everything has been a collaborative effort,” he said.
In related news, Ricigliano said township officials have been working with the county for a number of years to install a traffic light at the site.
The Township Council introduced an ordinance at the council meeting on May 25, authorizing the acquisition of and/or condemnation of five properties located at the intersection of Woodbridge Avenue and Gurley/Trenton Roads, allowing the township and the county to enter into an agreement to jointly install traffic signals at the intersection.
The passing of the ordinance would authorize the mayor to negotiate the acquisition of the properties by offering the property owners the fair market value of the properties as determined by an independent appraiser having completed an analysis and valuation of the properties. The ordinance goes on to say that should negotiations fail, township officials are authorized to acquire the properties up to the value authorized for each property by using the Eminent Domain Act.
A public hearing on the ordinance is set for June 8.