The following is an ‘Ask The Mayor’ question submitted to TLS, and the Mayor’s response. Email your questions for the Mayor to [email protected].

Question:

Good Afternoon, Mr. Mayor,

Thank you for the wonderful job you do in taking care of our incredibly large town. We truly appreciate your hard work and dedication to our community.

I am hoping you can assist us with an ongoing issue in the Ridge Avenue neighborhood.

During the busiest traffic times—approximately 8:30–9:30 a.m, it becomes extremely difficult for the many school buses to safely and efficiently travel down the neighboring streets (such as North Oakland and Stirling Avenue) due to cars being parked on both sides of the street.

Would it be possible to consider implementing alternate-side parking during these peak hours? We believe this could significantly improve traffic flow, make it easier and safer for school buses to navigate the street, and help prevent the tremendous amount of unnecessary congestion we are currently experiencing.

We would greatly appreciate your consideration of this issue and any assistance you can provide in finding a solution for our neighborhood.

Thank you again for your time, attention, and continued service to our community.

Sincerely,

Response from Mayor Coles:

I will ask our engineer to look at this

Ray

Question:

Dear Mayor Coles,

I am writing to express my deep frustration and urge the city to install a traffic light at the intersection of Washington and Pine. I truly do not understand why this critical safety and infrastructure issue has not yet been addressed. There is currently no comparable intersection in the entire state of New Jersey that lacks a proper signal.

The current situation causes significant daily disruptions:

– Safety Hazards: The lack of a signal makes this intersection extremely dangerous.

– Commute Delays: Every time I leave my neighborhood, the lack of a traffic light adds 20 minutes to my travel time.

I look forward to hearing why this remains unresolved and appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

sam

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good afternoon

I am also very frustrated that this has not been done yet. I know our engineering department is working on a plan

We had hoped to redirect the end of Washington to align with Vine, but could not accomplish this due to wetland restrictions.

Ray

Question:

Dear Mayor Coles

The intersection of E. Kennedy Rd. and Squankum is problematic all day

The cars from E. Kennedy Rd. turn right onto Squankum and block the intersection so the cars coming from the north cannot go through

It would be a very simple solution to put up a sign “no right turn allowed on red” for the cars on East Kennedy that are making a right onto Squankum

The “block box” that has been painted in that intersection is of no use as long as those drivers are allowed to make the right and block the people coming from north to south

thank you for taking time out to consider this issue

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good morning

I passed this to traffic & safety and asked them to look into your suggestions

Ray

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