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:
Dear Mr. Mayor,
Thank you for everything you do to help us and for taking care of everything that needs to be done. I am a 14 year old boy who lives in Raintree and i both enjoy biking and i use biking as a means of transportation and i have two concerns i would like to mention. The first is that when i first asked my mother if i could bike to camp my mother wasn’t sure if it was safe and the main concern was that there were no sidewalk on Ridge Avenue between County Line Road and Shemen Street. Recently they did construction on the Ridge/New Hampshire intersection and i was sure they would put in sidewalks. I was very disappointed that they did not. There is a dangerous stretch with almost no shoulder and its really not safe for bikers. Although the road was widened a bit, there is still not much room!! Is there any way that you can make this road safer for myself and other bikers? The road is a dangerous one and I see other boys biking regularly as well.
The second issue is that when you are going down Ridge Avenue (from Raintree, towards seventh street) you are going downhill and you are going fast and there is a pile of sand which causes you to skid and its easy to skid into traffic if you are not extremely careful or if you forget to slow down. Is there any way that the shoulder can at least be paved or made more safe if sidewalks are not an option?
Thank you for your help.
Response from Mayor Coles:
Hi,
We are planning on putting sidewalks along that entire length. Right now we are working with the county to overcome a problem that is caused by the fact that some of the area is wetlands and we cannot just put sidewalks on it. I want it done as soon as possible. I am always worried for the folks I see walking and riding along that route. Please be extra careful until we get them in.
—————–
Have a question for the Mayor? Send it to [email protected]
Have a question for the Chief? Send it to [email protected]
I thought the law is that a bicycle is considered a vehicle and has to be ridden on the street and has to obey all traffic laws and not to be riding on the sidewalk?
No such law in NJ. Few municipalities have ordinances but not here. It’s obviously a lot safer for younger children to ride on the sidewalk!
According to NJ law “A bicyclist must obey all State and local automobile driving laws. A parent may be held responsible for the child’s violation of any traffic law”
While we are talking about the intersection of New Hampshire and Ridge I have a concern. The county just finished doing a $800,000 road improvement. Why did the county eliminate the turning lane (northbound) coming from Red Oaks to New Hampshire? There used to be two lanes one for going straight and one for turning, now there is only one and traffic is getting backed up when a good percentage of cars turn right on New Hampshire. Can we get a turning lane back there? They put cones along the lane that used to exist. Thank you.
when did hitchhiking become legal???
is it legal for everyone or only the orthodox population?