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 Honorable Mayor Coles,

Thank you for answering my previous question about a turn signal at Route 9 and North Lake. I would like to ask another favor. Would it be possible for you to instruct Traffic and Safety to alert school bus companies, and maybe even the Lakewood Scoop, to inform people of upcoming road closures so that people can know to avoid certain areas? It would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Marvin

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good afternoon,

They do that now, but occasionally an emergency happens, and getting the alert out doesn’t always happen in a timely fashion. We are continually working on improving the system.

Thanks,

Ray

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Question:

Dear Mr Mayor,

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer all our emails, it really allows residents voices to be heard. I’m writing today with serious safety concerns regarding Cross Street between Prospect St and East Veterans Hwy. I travel this road nightly and it is extremely dark and narrow, it is very hard to see and it has a relatively high speed limit, with no sidewalks, there are many driveways and small streets that come out, seemingly, from the forest and you have cars coming out from between the trees and it is nearly impossible to see them. Additionally you have pedestrians and at times, hitchhikers dressed in black walking or standing very close to the road due to the lack of sidewalk or shoulder. It feels very unsafe traveling this road and these unsafe conditions make it a very tense drive.

I know the county has plans to widen and upgrade this stretch of Cross Street, but these plans have been promised for a long time already and still, no shovel on the ground. The public safety concerns are immediate and won’t be adequately addressed with a plan in the far future. At the very least, simply upgrading lighting can go a long way while we wait for the county to go ahead with this long anticipated project. This is not simply a traffic issue or an inconvenience but an urgent public safety concern that should be addressed immediately. Looking forward to seeing concrete steps taken in the very near future.

Thank you for taking the time to read and understand this email.

A concerned Lakewood resident

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good morning,

This is actually in Jackson. Our engineering dept will check it out and send some suggestions to the county since it is also a county road.

Thanks for writing,

Ray

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Have a question for the Mayor? Send it to [email protected]

Have a question for the Chief? Send it to [email protected]