[1:05] Okay, done speaking.

[1:12] Your video stopped. Your microphone is unmuted.

[1:21] I don't know what it's doing.

[1:26] » I think it should be unmuted. Give it a thought.

[1:39] I don't know what to do. Samsung is speaking.

[2:00] Yes, Samsung, we can hear you.

[2:13] Done speaking. Your microphone is unmuted. Your video

[2:18] is stopped. I don't know what this is doing.

[3:31] done speaking.

[3:39] testing.

[3:45] We hear you.

[6:49] a lot of people tuned into this

[7:04] bigger. Are you going to start the meeting?

[7:06] » I am. I'm waiting for one more minute. >> Okay.

[7:19] In case anyone has the overunder, we're waiting to get to 40.

[7:29] » How much do we have to bet? All

[7:34] right, we're going to get started. So, welcome everyone. Uh, I'm Vic Duca. I'm

[7:39] a member of the Maplewood Township Committee. And, um, I chair the

[7:44] engineering, public works, and planning committee, which is, um, the committee

[7:48] that will be discussing and working on this, uh, potential bike lane project.

[7:54] Um, I'm going to ask Mayor Adams if she'd like to say hello.

[8:01] » Thank you, Vic. Hi everybody. Um, as Vic said, I'm Nancy Adams. I'm serving as

[8:07] mayor right now of Maplewood on chair of the township committee. Um, and a member

[8:13] of engineering public works and planning subcommittee. So, we've been talking a

[8:17] lot about pedestrian safety and traffic calming for all the nine years I've been

[8:25] on the governing body so far. So, um, this is yet another iteration. So, we

[8:31] won't um I'm going to let Vic run the meeting and um because it's his his

[8:36] group and he'll gather information and he'll explain the process and what we

[8:42] will and won't do at this meeting, for example. But, um thanks for thanks for

[8:48] being here and taking the time out of your evening. Thanks. Thanks, Vic.

[8:52] » Thank you, mayor. Um just want to recognize we have the deputy mayor on,

[8:56] Malia Herman. Looks like she's on the phone. I know. Um, Township Committee

[9:01] woman, uh, Deb Engel is joining us and, uh, Township Committeeman Dean Daffis is

[9:07] on vacation, otherwise he'd be on here, too. So, uh, even though we have a

[9:11] majority, this is not a public, uh, meeting where, uh, action will be taken.

[9:16] This is a community meeting, but, um, we have a majority of the township here.

[9:21] I'm going to run through the agenda and explain to you what we're going to

[9:26] be doing here. So, here we are. Um, I'll we're doing

[9:31] the welcome, the introduction. I'll talk about the meeting format and the goals

[9:35] in a bit. Then, our township engineer will just talk briefly about complete

[9:41] streets and what we're doing here in Maplewood to um approach street design.

[9:46] Uh, our business administrator, Weary, will talk about the bike network

[9:51] concept. Um, and then, uh, Mr. Kitner will be coming back to introduce our

[9:56] consultants and talk a little bit about that process and then we'll hear from

[10:00] our consultants. They were the they'll be the ones focusing on the project uh

[10:05] with maps and what have you. Then we'll do questions and answers and we'll have

[10:10] some closing remarks. Um we haven't set a time limit here, but let's uh try to

[10:17] end this at nine o'clock. I think an hour and a half is probably the maximum

[10:22] that we can all um you know given uh to this tonight. We are going to have other

[10:29] meetings. So and let me go to that um back here to the agenda. So let's just

[10:36] talk about the meeting format. So um you know again keep please make sure you

[10:43] zoom uh you have the audio out when you're here on the Zoom meeting. We're

[10:47] going to ask at the point we get to questions and public comment, please

[10:51] raise your hand, we'll recognize you. We're going to ask you to keep your

[10:55] comments to two minutes. Questions and comments. Uh and then if if a

[11:00] participant hasn't spoken, we'll recognize that person before a second

[11:04] comment or a third comment from a previous speaker. We are recording this

[11:08] and we'll be posting it on the township website. Um so what are our goals for

[11:13] the meeting? Uh you know, basically we want to hear from you. uh this is a

[11:17] community meeting. We know that there are opinions on both sides and then

[11:22] there's just some people who want to find out what we're talking about. So,

[11:25] we ask that you respect everyone um not get into any kind of personal back and

[11:30] forth. Uh everyone's opinion is valued by the township committee and uh in our

[11:37] making our final decision, we will consider all the comments. We'll

[11:41] probably hear suggestions. We'll hear concerns, I'm sure, and then we'll also

[11:46] get recommendations from our professional staff and that'll be what

[11:49] we are uh going to be using to make the decision. Here's the timeline. So, we're

[11:54] having our first meeting tonight and just to tell you why we broke it into

[11:58] three sections. Um although you can talk about all of this, all of Parker Avenue

[12:04] if you want to tonight, we don't want to uh limit what you want to speak about,

[12:09] but we're really focusing on the section between Maplewood Avenue to Prospect

[12:14] Street. And the reason being is that section is a combination of residential

[12:19] uh business and institutional. And um some part of that has no parking

[12:24] already. Uh other parts of it have time limited parking on one side or the

[12:29] other. Then on March 10th, which is next Monday, we're going to have another

[12:34] meeting and that's going to focus on the section between Prospect to Bdon Avenue

[12:39] that is primarily residential except for a couple of religious institutions. Um,

[12:46] and there's parking on both sides of the street for most of it. So, that's going

[12:50] to be a sort of a different conversation. And then lastly, uh, at

[12:55] the end of the month of March 24th, we're going to have another, uh, meeting

[13:00] and that's going to focus on Parker from Bdon Avenue to Irvington Avenue, uh, the

[13:05] business district there. Again, that's a little different. It's a little tighter

[13:08] there. There seems to be more on street parking. We have parking for the park

[13:13] there. We also have parking for some of the businesses that are just off the

[13:17] corner of Boyden and Parker. Uh on April 9th, we'll take all the information

[13:23] we're getting from these three community meetings. We'll discuss it at our

[13:27] regular monthly meeting of the engineering, public works, and planning

[13:30] subcommittee. And um that's a virtual meeting and that's at 8:00 in the

[13:35] morning. Then uh hopefully if things go well, we will bring um the discussion to

[13:42] the full township committee. That will be an in-person meeting on April 15th at

[13:46] 7:30 p.m. in town hall. There'll be a further opportunity for public comment

[13:52] and then the township committee will discuss the concept and any next steps.

[13:57] Um in May the township committee will approve a capital budget and but right

[14:03] now the tenatively the budget includes money for bike lanes. Whether it makes

[14:08] it to the end that's all going to be part of this process. Uh if the bike

[14:12] lanes are approved, we will do the construction bids, publicizing them and

[14:16] awarding the contract in the summer and in the fall the construction of the bike

[14:21] lanes will be completed. So we're looking to do this, if we do this, we're

[14:25] looking to do this within 2025. Um just to give you some bearings as you

[14:30] talk as we talk tonight, just so you know what we're talking about because

[14:34] you know sometimes our consultants are going to mention north, south, east,

[14:37] west. So north is the high school side of the building. It's also the side that

[14:42] has the odd street numbers on Parker. Uh south is the 7-Eleven side and uh I'm

[14:48] sorry, south is is the even street. So that's an error there. It should be

[14:51] south is the even street numbers on Parker. Uh west is towards Maplewood

[14:56] Avenue and the South Mountain Reservation and east is towards the

[15:00] Irvington Avenue business district and New York City. So that's um that's the

[15:07] uh the plan for tonight. Um, you know, we've dealt with the introductions,

[15:12] we've dealt with the welcome, the format, and the goals. And now we're

[15:16] going to move to township engineer Paul Kitner, who's going to give us just a a

[15:21] brief uh comments on complete street approach here.

[15:25] » Committee Ben Duca, thank you. And I'll try to keep this brief. I see a lot of

[15:29] people. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of questions here. So, I was asked

[15:33] to talk about complete streets. I may deviate slightly from that going into a

[15:38] little history, but uh I'm sure Mr. Duca will let me know if I'm going out of

[15:42] bounds here. Um you know, prior to 2009, the state took a car ccentric approach

[15:49] towards design and construction. I think um you know, it's not to say that

[15:55] pedestrians weren't considered, but it wasn't, you know, the same emphasis as

[16:00] it is now. It was more car centric. And what complete streets is really, it's

[16:06] it's looking at people of all age groups. It's looking at all modes of of

[16:12] transportation, whether it's pedestrians, bicyclists,

[16:16] public transportation, our motorists, and it's designing facilities that

[16:21] accommodate all of these uses. That's really what complete streets is. Um, you

[16:27] know, I I think uh certainly when you look at a a street that's designed with

[16:33] complete streets, you know, it operates more efficiently. It operates with more

[16:37] volume. It operates more people, you know, by encouraging bic bicycles, for

[16:43] example, you could uh reduce congestion. So that's that's complete streets in a

[16:49] nutshell. We're going to get into it with the design and you know, Mr. Down

[16:53] is going to present this, but I'm also going to provide comments. I'll talk

[16:57] very briefly about the history. You know, in the township did incorporate a

[17:02] bike plan in 2010. I think it introduced more of those uh share the share the

[17:07] lane shar. And I think most uh bicyclists found

[17:11] that they weren't as effective as a dedicated lane. They prefer a dedicated

[17:16] lane. In 2012, the township passed their own complete streets policy. And in 2016

[17:23] and 2017, the township uh performed municipal aid grants and reconstructed

[17:29] Parker Avenue. We did a number of pedestrian improvements, uh ramp

[17:33] upgrades at the intersections. That was from Irvington A to uh Prospect Street

[17:39] over two municipal aid ramps. In 2018 and 2019, we incorporated a safe routts

[17:45] to schools uh program where we upgraded handicap ramps and incorporated push

[17:50] button ped signs. In 2020, we reconstructed the concrete refuge island

[17:55] that's located at Bdon Avenue and made it more in Parker Avenue and made it

[18:00] more uh ADA compliant. And in 2023, we improved daylighting of the

[18:07] intersection of Parker and Orchard Road. In 2023, we also collected data uh you

[18:13] know with dynamic for Parker Avenue, including speed, speed and volume data

[18:18] to come up with the bike plan that you see before you. In 24, we installed the

[18:24] four-way stop sign at Parker Bur and SuffK. So, that'll give you a little

[18:28] context, a little history of of where we're at. Um why is Parker Avenue

[18:33] selected for complete streets? There's a there's a number of reasons. It really

[18:37] connects a whole bunch of things. It connects the business corridor in

[18:41] Irvington Avenue. It inh connects uh St. Kim uh Church, Bordon Park, the

[18:48] residential along Parker Avenue and surrounding streets, Clinton Elementary

[18:53] School, the Maplewood Jewish Center, Ethical Cultural Society, Prospect

[18:58] Street, CHS High School, commercial shops and buildings on West Parker,

[19:03] including the YMCA and the Gleon property, and also incorporates the

[19:08] overflow parking for CHS and and the greenway, which was constructed a part

[19:12] of it last year. And of course, it connects Maplewood A uh which opens the

[19:18] doors for future uh bike lane improvements. I want to stress to

[19:22] everyone that bicycles are legal on our streets. Um you know, they have a right

[19:27] to be in our streets and that's part of the complete streets. If you take your

[19:32] time and look at the bike racks at CHS, you know that there's a lot of bikes

[19:36] being used. A lot of our student body are are using bicycles. And I went the

[19:42] other day. There must have been 30 or 40 bikes and this is when it was cold out.

[19:46] In the summertime, I'm sure that number goes up. Um, I want to stress too that

[19:51] this plan is not just for bicycle safety. You know, it squeezes the travel

[19:56] lanes and also performs traffic calming. It also enhances pedestrian safety by

[20:02] upgrading all the crosswalk striping and signage. And I think would be a

[20:06] significant improvement to the corridor. Um,

[20:12] you know, I I think also I just want to mention a few things on the plan and

[20:16] we'll get into this more as well with bike lanes. You know, parking is not

[20:21] allowed. So, it it's it's going to have an inherent impact on parking and we

[20:25] could get into that as well. But if you look at the corridor that we're focusing

[20:30] on tonight, the majority of it is no stopping and standing or is restricted

[20:35] parking during school days, for example. um you know re so just looking at it

[20:42] holistically uh you know I think this project itself when you look at the

[20:48] projects we've done in the past this is truly

[20:51] a complete streets approach that we would be implementing for this road and

[20:56] you'll see it in the design uh hopefully we can answer everyone's questions with

[21:00] that I think I want to I'm going to have more comments I may interject as Mr.

[21:05] Downy's giving his presentation, but at this time I'd like to pres uh present uh

[21:09] Patrick Downey. >> Uh Paul, we're going to have Patrick

[21:13] Weary speak. The other Patrick. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, that's all right,

[21:16] Mr. Weary. I didn't mean to steal your spotlight there.

[21:20] » Thanks, Mr. Kirner, Mr. Duca. So, I want to share the uh total bike network that

[21:26] we have planned for um the town. This is obviously a concept at this stage, but

[21:32] um it's a a you know can be a guiding document for how we build this out. Park

[21:36] Rab being uh the first earliest um one we have where we have dedicated bike

[21:42] lanes. And so I'll share that now. We'll just describe a little bit of um our

[21:46] approach to this. So we first talked about this network as

[21:53] part of the 2010 plan that Mr. Kitner had referenced and it looked to connect

[22:00] parks and schools uh municipal amenities uh like uh like the uh the community

[22:07] center uh the train station are special improvement districts being Maplewood

[22:13] Village and Springfield Avenue. And so uh we looked at the most traveled

[22:18] roadways and also the size of the roadways and and our the preference

[22:24] recently is to move towards dedicated bike lanes because uh they are the

[22:28] safest for the bikers and they do most for traffic coming. And so we can this a

[22:35] public document that we can share but it shows what could become bike lanes

[22:40] throughout Maplewood. And it also shows a legend where we we look at the width

[22:44] of roadways needed for whether it be um dedicated bike lanes with parking, just

[22:52] dedicated bikes, no parking, shar. And so we'll use this as we consider

[22:59] when to um start to engage the public around future roadways for bike

[23:05] improvements. That could be like Park Avenue when we're looking to do overall

[23:10] um traffic improvements to, you know, either reduce speed, manage flows, uh

[23:17] increase pedestrian uh visibility, and that that's what we've been talking

[23:21] about along Parker Avenue. It could be considered when we're looking to repave

[23:26] a roadway. So something like Prospect Street where we expect to pave it in the

[23:31] coming years. We can now start to look at Prospect Street for, you know, is it

[23:35] a viable candidate for uh bike lanes and do we want to start uh engaging with the

[23:40] public in the process like we're doing now for Parker. It could be to connect

[23:45] to other uh infrastructure like South Orange is bringing their greenway south

[23:52] to us and it's going to connect through Chesuit Field. So we have an interest

[23:56] now in looking at um network roadways along possibly Dell and past the train

[24:02] station. Uh so there'll be a lot of different reasons why we begin to talk

[24:05] about roadways in different areas of town, but we want to have an overall map

[24:09] so that it'll guide our approach so that we we roll this out somewhat

[24:13] methodically um and with a plan for a larger bike network.

[24:19] » Thank you, Pat. >> That is all from me.

[24:21] » Okay. Thank you. >> Uh Paul, um I'm going to turn it right

[24:25] back to you again. Uh we talk about dynamic traffic as being our traffic

[24:30] consultants. you just explain what that means and then introduce Patrick and I

[24:34] don't know if John is here but just to >> Sure. So uh you know given the breadth

[24:40] of their experience dynamic traffic uh has been selected as our professional

[24:45] service consulting engineer for for traffic engineering. Now we work closely

[24:51] with dynamic on traffic designs. we have uh you know complete oversight and uh

[24:57] work with them provide input but you know we're relying on their expertise. I

[25:02] know I've known John McCormack for many many years and uh Mr. Downey has I've

[25:07] known him for a number of years now too and I'm highly impressed with both of

[25:11] them. They're they're very good traffic engineers.

[25:16] » So Patrick Dowy, take it away. >> All righty. Thank you for that uh warm

[25:21] welcome Paul and Vic. Um, once again, Pat Downey with Dynamic Traffic. Happy

[25:25] to be here. Uh, we love assisting the township with these types of projects.

[25:29] It's really our bread and butter. Uh, we're excited to start rolling this one

[25:32] out. Gonna just share my screen, assuming I

[25:36] have the ability to do so. There we go. Let me know if everyone can see that.

[25:42] » Yes. >> Gonna really roll this out in a two-step

[25:45] process. First, I just want to go over at a high level some of the planning and

[25:48] research efforts that have gone into um establishing baseline conditions that

[25:52] we're working with here and then segueing that into uh the proposed plan.

[25:58] So, um this graphic you see on the screen is really the compilation of uh

[26:02] several months of effort to understand existing conditions related to traffic

[26:07] volumes, travel speeds, crash history, and parking utilization along Parker

[26:11] Avenue. And I'll kind of give some quick highlights for each of those items. Uh

[26:16] starting with traffic volumes, uh we're looking at about 5,000 to 7,500 vehicles

[26:21] per day uh for this uh corridor. Depending on the location, it obviously

[26:25] varies a little bit, but in general 5,000 or greater. Just to put that in

[26:29] perspective, um some of the lower order bike facilities you might think of

[26:33] shared lanes with shar sort of things are most appropriate on lower volume

[26:37] roadways. Think you know 2 to 3,000 vehicles per day or less generally. So

[26:42] really a higher order than that here. Hence uh you know the proposal to

[26:45] institute dedicated bike lanes. Looking at crash history um up and down

[26:51] the corridor it's obviously concentrated most at some of the major intersections

[26:54] particularly the signalized ones. Uh but I do want to note some of those have

[26:58] involved cyclists and pedestrians over the years. Between the two of them uh it

[27:03] accounts for about 7% of the crashes that occurred in a 5-year period that we

[27:07] took a look at between 2019 and 2024. speeds. Uh 25 mile per hour speed limit

[27:14] with um 85th percentile speeds. That's kind of a design metric used commonly in

[27:19] the industry uh to represent what you should design for. Uh is ranging higher

[27:24] than that, 28 to 34. So between 3 to 10 miles per hour over that posted speed

[27:30] limit, which is obviously something we want to take into consideration with any

[27:33] design we put forth. Uh and then parking utilization which is illustrated by this

[27:38] uh graph you see at the bottom of your screen. Um essentially we took a look at

[27:42] parking utilization throughout the corridor over the course of a full

[27:45] typical weekday. Uh plotted it on a graph. What you see in green which is

[27:49] most of the graph is uh essentially low parking utilization under 50% of the

[27:55] spaces being utilized. So when we look to weigh the benefits of uh bike lanes

[28:00] versus potential cons of eliminating parking, this is something we always

[28:03] like to take a look at and understand. Okay, how much parking activity is

[28:06] actually taking place? What's being displaced uh by a project like this?

[28:11] Uh so with that kind of setting the stage for some of the proposed

[28:14] improvements, I'm going to flip to the content plan. Some of you might be

[28:17] familiar with uh we'll walk through all the pages that pertain to the section

[28:21] we're discussing tonight, but I put this one on on the screen uh just to give a

[28:24] little bit of a preview because it shows a couple different uh existing

[28:27] conditions that we're working with here. >> So starting with the

[28:31] » I'm sorry. Go ahead. Could you um see if you can zoom in a little bit as much as

[28:37] you can so that people can kind Yeah, that's better.

[28:41] » Appreciate it. What you see at the top of your screen is existing conditions

[28:46] with the bottom of the screen being proposed.

[28:49] Uh so starting with some of the physical geometry, the cartway width varies

[28:52] throughout this corridor between about 30 feet to 34 feet. Uh to the west of

[28:58] Valley Street, you can see there's no striped shoulders in the existing

[29:01] condition. uh essentially 15 foot lanes in each direction. Uh to the east of

[29:05] Valley Street for a lot of the corridor, you have four to five foot narrow

[29:09] shoulders with uh roughly 11 foot lanes or greater for lane widths.

[29:14] There's a variety of parking restrictions in place out there. Uh just

[29:18] within the section we're discussing tonight, there's at least four different

[29:20] ones, all moving towards similar goals. Um mostly to restrict parking in front

[29:26] of the high school uh during school times on weekdays primarily.

[29:31] Uh bikes are as Paul mentioned before legally permitted to use the roadway as

[29:35] it is. Um whereas there's no formal bicycle accommodations provided. Uh

[29:40] obviously no bike lanes, no shar etc. And the sidewalks themselves are not you

[29:44] know bike width paths that can be utilized. So while there's biking

[29:48] occurring, they're really not accommodated in the existing condition.

[29:51] So, when we look to the proposed, um, some of the key goals are obviously to

[29:54] provide a safe bicycle facility, uh, and while we're out there, improve things

[29:58] for motorists and enhance pedestrian safety as well, knowing they're always a

[30:02] priority. Uh, and keeping in mind the constraints that we're working with as

[30:05] well. Um, one of the key constraints uh, beholden to for this project is trying

[30:09] to work as best we can within the existing cartway of Parker Avenue. We're

[30:13] not looking to make this a major roadway widening project uh, to accommodate

[30:17] every single feature. is really making the best use of the space we have

[30:20] available. Uh so looking at the proposed conditions

[30:24] you see illustrated on the bottom, some of the key features are consistent 5

[30:28] foot wide bike lanes uh oriented along the curb lines in both the eastbound and

[30:32] westbound directions throughout the corridor uh with one narrow exception uh

[30:37] toward [clears throat] the east end of the limits uh outside of the section

[30:40] we're discussing today. Uh you see the individual bicycle

[30:44] symbols. I'll zoom in a little further on the proposed

[30:47] are not only the bicycle and arrow symbol to denote the bike lane and the

[30:51] accompanying signage. Uh but also enhanced with the green pavement

[30:55] markings beneath them. Uh the minimum you could do the green's not required.

[31:00] Uh some situations with very high bike activity get full green lanes the whole

[31:05] way. We think this is a fairly appropriate middle ground approach for

[31:08] this location uh where the bicycle symbols themselves are enhanced with the

[31:12] green to bring a little bit more attention to the condition to motorists.

[31:16] Uh additionally through the major intersections, specifically the

[31:19] signalized intersections, we have the dashed bike lane extensions, these

[31:23] dashed green sections uh through the intersection, very similar to what you

[31:27] would think of as a white pedestrian crosswalk, but green to denote it's a

[31:30] bicycle facility. Uh so vehicles turning through the intersection are again made

[31:34] aware that bicycles could be traveling through them and they should be aware of

[31:37] them. Uh some additional benefits throughout

[31:41] the corridor. Um part of making the uh number one introducing shoulders to the

[31:46] western section where they do not exist and widening the shoulders from four to

[31:49] five feet in the eastern section where they do uh is it narrows the travel

[31:53] lanes. That's generally associated with a a traffic calming improvement. with

[31:57] narrower travel lanes uh come more driver attention and typically lower

[32:01] speeds. Uh additionally, all the crosswalks

[32:05] throughout the corridor at a minimum would be refreshed with high visibility

[32:08] crosswalk striping. Uh the example you see on your screen currently is what we

[32:12] call the ladder uh style. That's one of the high visibility options and there

[32:16] are some other ones. And there are some additional crosswalks being added to

[32:20] some of the unsalized intersections uh that currently do not provide any. So,

[32:24] it's certainly uh striving to address the complete streets goals that have

[32:27] been laid out so far, trying to accommodate all the users that we're

[32:30] looking at here, not just motorists, but also uh cyclists and pedestrians.

[32:36] So, that's the plan at a high level. Uh with that, I'll walk through uh from

[32:40] west to east through the limits we're here to discuss tonight. Um you know,

[32:44] I'll I'll defer to the township reps on the on the call if you want to jump in

[32:47] with questions as we go or if I'll just get to the end. Uh we'll take them all

[32:50] at the end. take them all at the end.

[32:55] » Sounds good. So, starting at the western limit of Maplewood Avenue, which you see

[32:59] here, I'll give it a click in. Uh, this is again the western section

[33:05] with no uh shoulders provided. So, here I think uh it has probably the most

[33:09] significant traffic calming benefit since not only are the shoulders being

[33:13] widened, but they're actually being provided for the first time. Uh, bike

[33:18] lane markings throughout. uh refreshing of center line striping, refreshing of

[33:22] side streeting, stop bars, center lines, stop word markings, etc. Uh refresh sign

[33:28] package, not only for the bike lanes, but upgrading uh you know, stop signs,

[33:33] no parking signs, etc. where appropriate.

[33:36] Also to note in this section, the hatched uh gray areas you see to the top

[33:40] left and bottom right, those are the uh greenway plan paths. So, this is a

[33:45] pretty important block just to ensure bicycle continuity between those two uh

[33:49] locations.

[33:54] Moving our way east to to where we started showing the Valley Street

[33:57] intersection. Um this is one of the key locations uh because it's one of the

[34:01] major crossings along Parker Avenue. So, we think uh some of the supplemental

[34:05] features to enhance the bike lane, specifically those bike lane extensions

[34:09] through the intersection are key. Uh and this really uh divides the section into

[34:14] two distinct areas with the west having no shoulders today and the east having

[34:17] shoulders uh in the existing condition being widened to provide the bike lane.

[34:21] You'll also see to the bottom right of your screen uh one of the first upgraded

[34:25] school crossing signs uh throughout the whole corer plan. There's upgraded

[34:28] school and pedestrian crossing signs uh depending on whether the intersection is

[34:32] just a typical crosswalk or an actual designated school crossing.

[34:41] Moving further east along the high school frontage, um you'll see this is

[34:45] kind of one of the key areas we think will be most improved uh when it comes

[34:49] to uh the parking restriction. Uh there's currently uh no parking in

[34:55] various sections of this block uh either from 9 to 11:00 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. on

[35:00] school days. Essentially, you know, some of the higher desirable times for that

[35:04] school activity to be parking there. yet there is some parking activity

[35:08] occurring. Um so that's obviously going to conflict pretty significantly with

[35:12] the proposal to provide bike lanes. However, it should be reiterated that

[35:16] when you look at the uh the bike racks in front of the high school, they're

[35:18] generally pretty well utilized. So there are bicyclists currently utilizing

[35:22] Parker Avenue and likely other streets to get here. Uh so we have to remember

[35:26] it is important to accommodate them since they have the legal right to use

[35:29] the roadway as it is.

[35:34] Uh toward the east of Academy Street really begins uh more of a predominantly

[35:37] residential character. Uh we do have one more intersection to work through being

[35:41] Prospect Street uh which again gets that similar enhanced treatment with the bike

[35:46] lane extensions uh full signage and striping package complete with

[35:50] crosswalks as you would expect for a major signalized intersection. Uh and

[35:54] then to the east of that you really get to I guess what you would consider the

[35:57] breadandbut layout throughout uh the rest of the blocks uh moving eastward

[36:02] which is those five foot bike lanes narrowed up uh travel lanes uh and

[36:06] improved uh pedestrian crossings uh you know getting just outside the limits

[36:10] here. This is an example I was referring to where Summit Avenue currently has no

[36:14] crosswalk to cross Parker Avenue. Uh this is just one of several locations

[36:18] where that would be introduced as part of this project.

[36:25] So, I guess unless you want me to go further, I think that's a pretty

[36:29] comprehensive overview of what we've done to date, what the proposed plan is,

[36:33] and I'm certainly happy to answer any questions.

[36:37] » Great. >> Mr. Downey, uh, I have a quick question.

[36:40] So, for example, Prospect and Parker, it's a very busy intersection, wider

[36:45] intersection. Uh, you know, this this plan is a work

[36:49] in progress. Do you envision us looking at this uh with the possibility of even

[36:55] improving some of the design beyond what's shown now? Matable Ballards for

[36:59] example at the approaches maybe something along those lines.

[37:04] » Yeah, absolutely. I think there's a few key locations along the corridor. This

[37:07] certainly being one of them. Uh that warrants additional attention as this

[37:11] gets advanced from a concept plan to a formal, you know, construction level

[37:14] drawing. Uh I think all those ideas will be even fully vetted uh more so than

[37:18] they have been now. Uh Prospect Street also has the benefit of having an

[37:22] upcoming uh repaving of its own. So between this Parker Avenue project and

[37:27] uh presumably a future Prospect Street upgrade, I think that intersection is

[37:31] certainly due for an upgrade and we'll receive one.

[37:37] » Okay, Patrick, can you stop sharing? >> Yes, sir.

[37:43] » There you go. Okay. So, um we're now going to open it up. Just just have that

[37:50] uh ready to put back up because I'm sure we're going to get questions and you're

[37:54] going to want to show um in in your responses. So, we're now going to open

[37:58] it up to uh comments and questions. I see Andrew is the first. Um so, Andrew,

[38:04] go ahead.

[38:08] » Uh hi to thanks so much. Uh very impressive presentation and plan. Um my

[38:16] question is about uh the area right in front of Columbia High School. As a

[38:21] parent of high schoolers, I um will will admit that I occasionally do pause in

[38:28] front of the high school building to drop off or pick off pick kids up. Um h

[38:35] how do you see that bike path interacting with the tendency of drivers

[38:41] to use that as a temporary stopping lane for for that purpose and is there any

[38:47] way to prevent that happening because I expect that folks are going to be very

[38:53] reluctant to discontinue that practice. um what strategies could be used to make

[38:57] sure everyone is is safe and also there's not a huge push back from the

[39:02] community who's been used to doing that for many years.

[39:09] » Paul, would you like me to jump in on that one or do you want to take that

[39:11] one? >> Yeah, Patrick, why don't you why don't

[39:13] you show it and then Paul, you can jump in too.

[39:16] » Okay,

[39:19] » sure. So, I'll just put that back on the screen briefly. Um so, we can all be

[39:22] looking at the same thing. Um so essentially the short answer is a lot of

[39:27] that activity now is is really happening because there is no better option. Um so

[39:32] you know what are people to do? It's it's the option that makes sense. So uh

[39:35] in addition to this project uh there's other discussions taking place um with

[39:40] the school about where we could potentially relocate that activity to a

[39:43] more formal dedicated location. Um nothing ready to share at this moment

[39:47] that I'm aware of. Uh but that's definitely a concern we're well aware of

[39:51] and we're looking for alternatives um just so that actually has somewhere to

[39:54] go to. >> And Patrick, you're thinking of Ballards

[39:58] there. >> Yes. So I know there have been questions

[40:01] throughout the development of this plan about where uh supplemental features

[40:04] like flex ballards along the bike lane could be implemented. Um in this

[40:08] particular location, I think it's definitely warranted. So, um, generally

[40:13] between Academy Street and Valley Street, we would be looking to upgrade

[40:16] this bike lane to have, uh, flexible Ballards located along that, uh, bike

[40:21] lane stripe just to further enhance its, uh, visibility, provide a little more,

[40:26] uh, comfort to cyclists and also to further deter that illegal parking

[40:30] activity that has been observed. >> I I I think, yeah, I mean, the exact

[40:34] detail and design would have to still be vetted with the school and worked out

[40:38] with the school, but that's our concept. I mean, anyone who uh, you know, goes

[40:43] there when school is out or even when school is, you know, in the beginning in

[40:47] the morning, it's it's congested. You can't get through it. So, uh, it's a

[40:51] very good comment. Uh, Mr. How, thank you for the comment and it's something

[40:55] that we're working on. >> Okay.

[40:58] » Thank you. >> Um, on my screen I have Matthew is next.

[41:04] » Hi, thank you guys so much for this. Um, >> I was just wondering if you have

[41:09] considered or are considering at all a stop sign on Parker, uh, and Academy. I

[41:14] know there's there's stop signs on Academy, uh, but none on on Parker. Um,

[41:20] it's intersection that's not really easy to cross unless there's a crossing guard

[41:24] in the morning. Um, so I just want to know if that's something that's being

[41:27] considered. >> Pat, you want to take that?

[41:30] » Yeah. So, at this time, we have not done a full evaluation of that. Um, there are

[41:34] specific warrants set forward. um in by the FHWA for when you can and cannot uh

[41:40] use an allway stop treatment. Um my initial reaction is I do not think it

[41:43] would qualify for that. You're really looking for roads where the two roadways

[41:48] are of similar character, volume, um intensity, etc. That's really not the

[41:53] case in this location. Uh Academy Street carries much less than Parker. So, um

[41:57] you know, while that could have some traffic calming benefits, it's not the

[42:01] right tool for this particular location. We're trying to use some of the other

[42:03] tools uh in the tool belt.

[42:08] Okay, I have Brienne.

[42:13] » Hi. Um, I'm on 44 Parker, so obviously this is a huge impact for me. I do love

[42:20] biking. Um, but there's a lot of things that I'm not

[42:24] sure if you're keeping into consideration. Obviously, I know

[42:27] everyone's going to talk about the high school and all the congestion around

[42:30] that, which is not going to go away. people are going to park on the side

[42:33] streets even when and you can't even drive through them because they're so

[42:36] narrow and it's like one ways. It's it's a mess even right now. So, it's a

[42:41] problem now. But that's that's obvious stuff. Um I think if you're thinking

[42:47] from the homeowner's perspective, a lot of the houses um on across the street,

[42:54] so the south side of the street, we have really big lots. So that means in the

[42:59] fall we have I don't know and then this is a question for you guys like can we

[43:04] put right now we have massive amount of leaves that go in the front of our yard

[43:10] I mean the front yard in what would be the bike lane and it would it takes up

[43:14] like most of the street. It's huge cuz we all have like soccer fields in the

[43:19] backyard. So what are you have you guys considered

[43:24] that? Where are we supposed to put our leaves in the fall? Um, and then in the

[43:28] winter too, like when people probably aren't biking as much, like the snow

[43:32] impact that's going to be going, we have to move cars in and out. Like, you know,

[43:37] a lot of us have to park our car on the street in order to bring the other car

[43:41] out. We're already going against, you know, people going up and down in the

[43:44] schools and everything else, but like there's a lot of factors in that. And if

[43:49] you guys do go ahead and do this, even if there's for all of us that are

[43:53] impacted, are you lowering our taxes because this is an impact on us and what

[43:58] we are being taken away of what we can utilize for our home.

[44:03] » So I I think uh in terms of the leaves, I I direct the DPW department. I could

[44:08] say that we're not going to stop trees from leaves falling and and dropping

[44:13] leaves. So the answer is I think in in cases where properties are large enough

[44:18] uh you know you're not going to in some cases you're not going to be able to

[44:22] avoid the impact. I think leaves are going to have to be there. I think as

[44:26] residents it would be wonderful if if we could maybe just coordinate better when

[44:31] it's closer to the pickup times for the leaves. I mean you guys the leaves have

[44:35] you guys I I feel like a lot of you working on aren't actually on the street

[44:41] like there's just a lot going on all the time. So

[44:44] » and some of that's unavoidable where you know

[44:46] » it is and the leaves though if you see in this one area it's not just like the

[44:52] normal house leaves in the fall. It's like the whole and it goes on until you

[44:56] know there are no leaves and it starts and all of our trash and every I'm just

[45:01] saying these are things to consider for this one area this of Parker that is

[45:07] already hit with the school impact with all of the congestion. So it's

[45:12] » it's very it's a lot more intense in this area than it is on like up the

[45:17] street and Parker at past prospect. Mhm. >> Also, it's a hill, so like kids are

[45:22] coming racing down the mountain >> right now as it is and like they're not

[45:28] really going people aren't riding their bike up the street unless they're really

[45:31] good bicyclists, which there aren't that many. They're really walking the bikes

[45:35] on the sidewalk up the street. So, just something else to consider.

[45:40] » Yes, we did talk about the uh the leaves and the snow and you know, we're going

[45:45] to figure out a a plan to to address it. You're still going to be able to put

[45:48] your leaves on the street. >> Yeah. How about parking for us when

[45:52] we're we have to move our cars like we park in our driveway, but then you have

[45:56] to move a car out to get out. You know, you have to put it somewhere or if

[45:59] there's construction or the landscapers who they have to park on the street when

[46:02] they're doing our yards. There's nowhere else for them. Where are they supposed

[46:06] to park? >> Yeah, those are going to be

[46:08] conversations that we're going to continue to have with um both the police

[46:12] and the DPW to figure out how we're going to give instructions for that. I

[46:16] mean, you're not they're not going to be able and you're not going to be able to

[46:19] park in the uh in the bike lane, but we're going to, you know, we're going to

[46:23] talk about it. We understand that there are some issues there.

[46:26] » And what about our taxes? >> Uh no, the answer is no. We're not going

[46:30] to reduce them. >> You're not going to reduce our taxes,

[46:32] but you're taking away something. So, you can't reduce anything.

[46:34] » Well, we're adding, you know, I guess it depends how you look at it. Some people

[46:37] think we're adding, some people think >> the town is adding it, but it's

[46:40] impacting us. We can't have people, you know, people come over to our house.

[46:44] they can't park on the street where this is a park. Like it's just kind of a

[46:47] nightmare for people. >> So, so the answer is that if in fact um

[46:52] anything we do impacts the selling of the house, then that will be reflected

[46:57] in the next revaluation. >> I'm sure it will.

[47:02] » Okay, Daniel.

[47:17] You're good. >> Oh, hello. Is it my turn?

[47:20] » Yes. >> Oh, great. Um, thank you for this really

[47:24] amazing proposal. I am really enthusiastic

[47:28] to see progress in the back master plan. Um, I just have a

[47:35] question on the the width of the travel lanes. I see

[47:42] some areas are 10 ft and others are wider. Is there any reason we cannot be

[47:51] consistent throughout the entire street to be as narrow as possible? because um

[47:59] I'm concerned about the really high speeds people travel across town and

[48:07] having 10 ft 10 foot lanes will help kind of control the speed of those

[48:13] vehicles. >> Pat, you want to take that too?

[48:16] » Absolutely. So, um the first iteration of this plan really provided those five

[48:20] foot bike lanes we discussed uh consistently throughout the corridor,

[48:24] but the cartway itself isn't a consistent width. So really whatever's

[48:27] left was was dedicated back to the travel lanes. Uh could they be narrowed

[48:31] up to 10 and provide wider bike lanes in those locations instead? I think that's

[48:35] definitely something we could take a look at. Uh and then in some locations

[48:38] the center line's not quite in the center of the road. Um it's, you know,

[48:43] this is surprisingly expensive just to move that stripe a couple of inches. So

[48:46] we're trying to hold the center line where it is. Uh but if we can expand the

[48:49] bike lanes a little bit to keep the lanes narrower on a more consistent

[48:52] basis, I think that's a good suggestion, something we could take a look at.

[48:57] Yeah, that that would be amazing because uh from a cyclist pers perspective, you

[49:04] know, 5 feet might be fine, but you're close to the gard and

[49:12] some conditions might uh necessitate you from getting too

[49:18] close to the middle of it. So having a wider bike lane and

[49:25] keeping the private length 10 ft throughout

[49:30] would be a massive massive help.

[49:36] » Okay. Thank you, >> Craig.

[49:44] » Uh yes. Uh thank you. Uh could you hear me?

[49:48] » Yes. Yeah. Um I I applaud the uh uh effort to uh roll out bike lanes in

[49:58] Maplewood. Um I I focused a fair amount on biking in New York City in various

[50:06] capacities. And I also applaud the focus on the Colombia High School area as the

[50:13] first um node that you're addressing uh for two reasons. one, uh, there are lots

[50:20] and lots of students and maybe teachers who are and will continue to be taking

[50:27] their bike back and forth from school regardless of u what the township uh

[50:34] does in this regard. And personally, we live right up the street from Columbia

[50:39] High School on Prospect Street, six houses in from uh Parker.

[50:46] Um, so I think working on this is important. Uh, however, I I think the

[50:52] project as it's been presented tonight is constrained in a way that leads to uh

[51:02] a less than desirable result. I I think uh the engineers have done what they

[51:09] should do to look at Parker as a bike lane um possibility potentiality, but I

[51:17] think uh more importantly is considering uh better alternatives. I I think uh the

[51:25] way you uh opened it up in my mind uh exactly explains why Parker going all

[51:32] the way up uh you know taking this as an integrated hole is not not a good choice

[51:38] because there are many nodes of high volume traffic um which uh we've seen in

[51:46] efforts to calm the traffic install uh [clears throat] uh traffic signals

[51:52] install stop signs because there is a high volume. Um similarly on Prospect

[51:58] Street, we've seen a very high volume. We've seen accidents

[52:04] uh unfortunately for school children crossing. I think a better uh approach

[52:09] conceptually instead of trying to have bike lanes that share the road on uh

[52:17] roads that have high traffic volume is to see if there are suitable ways to

[52:23] implement the admirable concept of complete streets and ridable uh

[52:29] neighborhoods that uh make use of other streets that don't have as high traffic

[52:35] volume. For instance, uh, Prospect Street, I think, is a bad choice of a

[52:41] bike lane as opposed to Summit Avenue, which is parallel. Summit has much less

[52:48] traffic. Uh, there is actually signage for bike lanes on Summit. I think trying

[52:55] to put it on Prospect would be a mistake. Similarly, I think uh for

[53:00] example, and obviously this is just ideas being thrown out uh uh raised here

[53:06] uh siphoning the traffic from Columbia High School uh off onto North Terrace

[53:12] away from Prospect and then perhaps on um

[53:17] uh other parallel streets, you know, further we have Elmwood and although

[53:23] there's some wiggles to get to it, Midland is really ideal. It's a low

[53:27] traffic uh flow. Uh [clears throat]

[53:32] and uh the my basic point is that I think the engineers are doing a very

[53:38] technically uh astute job of addressing uh safety of bike riders and traffic

[53:46] flow. But I think it's uh a very suboptimal and not very creative

[53:53] approach. I think we should be looking at other streets that recognize that uh

[53:59] there's going to be parking in front of Columbia High School picking up,

[54:03] dropping off. There's no getting it's never going to change. We're not going

[54:07] to want to be arresting people for doing it. And going up uh Parker, uh the nose

[54:13] that you talk about will have the traffic and I think there are parallel

[54:17] streets and having one or two turns that make the bike lanes uh although not as

[54:25] neat and linear will lead to much safer uh approaches.

[54:32] » Okay. Thank you, Rob.

[54:37] Hi there. Uh Rob Howley. I live on Richmond Avenue, a few houses off of

[54:42] Parker. Uh first off, want to thank the township for taking on the important

[54:46] task of making Parker Avenue safer for all road users. Complete streets are

[54:50] crucial for building a safer, greener, and more equitable community. Uh as a

[54:54] resident, parent, and person who bikes everywhere with his kids, that includes

[54:58] in the the winter and whatever. Um, you know, I support this project, you know,

[55:05] full like full stop. Um, so I take this particular section quite often, whe it's

[55:11] like heading to the village, daycare pickups at the Y or, you know, civic

[55:15] duty, voting at CHS. Um, like the fact that Parker is high volume is what makes

[55:21] it good to invest in. It's an efficient route to get around town. Um, and if we

[55:26] can make the that route safer for everyone, then we can uh alleviate a lot

[55:30] of problems. Uh my main concern with the proposed design was around the pickup

[55:34] drop off by CHS uh with cars being in the lane that would undermine the value

[55:39] of so I'm really thrilled to hear that you know there's a looking at doing

[55:44] Ballards flex posts or some equivalent because if we're going to invest in

[55:49] safety you know we should follow best practices and do we can to actually make

[55:52] it work. Um, I know I personally would not like to have to swerve into traffic

[55:57] when it's at its busiest to get uh to get around an illegally parked car.

[56:03] Right now, I just ride in the middle of the lane because that's currently the

[56:07] safest. Um, I would rather have a designated space off to the side and

[56:11] cars I'm sure would prefer to have me out of their way. Um and as was

[56:16] mentioned earlier, uh this also like putting in protection for the section of

[56:21] the of the road. It was good for cars and pedestrians as well because it will

[56:26] improve the sight lines for drivers seeing pedestrians. We've already had a

[56:31] CHS student hit pretty recently uh by Academy and Parker. Um so like I'm sure

[56:37] they would have appreciated better sight lines. Um, and if you're a driver, uh, I

[56:43] do drive sometimes when someone's parked, uh, like doing a like throwing

[56:48] the hazards on, thinking they can do whatever they want. You have to sw you

[56:51] have to move over into oncoming traffic to get around them. And as a driver,

[56:55] that's also not great. Um, and the concerns around speeding on Parker are

[57:00] huge. Uh, but a recent study, I guess now two years old study out of Ruckers

[57:05] said putting delineators on bike lanes reduce max speeds about up to 28%. So if

[57:12] you really want to address speeding, it's not, you know, we'll never have

[57:17] enough cops to arrest everyone. So it's like, you know, put some flex post up.

[57:22] It's a it's way more scalable. Uh, so I I hope I hope you pursue that. It's

[57:28] great. Thanks. >> Thank you. Thank you, uh, Kate.

[57:32] Hi, I live uh right on Parker Avenue. I'm really excited about this project. I

[57:36] just wanted to um ask quickly something you touched on in this stretch right off

[57:40] Maplewood Avenue. Um so it sounds like there will not be road widening and

[57:43] it'll be working within the existing streets and it won't be impacting

[57:46] sidewalks and front yards. >> That's correct.

[57:49] » That's correct. >> Okay, great. Thanks.

[57:55] » Okay. Uh Christina, nope.

[58:01] Christina, but it's um I'm I'm just using her computer. But I I wanted to to

[58:06] raise um yeah point around the high school because I was a high schooler who

[58:12] uh tried to to bike and I often found it rather like dangerous. Um so I really do

[58:18] appreciate um like this proposal and I and I want to support it. I would strive

[58:23] to have more of uh more protection around the high school with things like

[58:28] um Ballards because I mean now yeah now I'm um I I'm doing urban planning at at

[58:34] Ruckers and I think that like from the studies that like I've seen and been a

[58:40] part of they they really do help safety. Um, and then I also wanted to address

[58:44] the thing, um, I think someone said about, uh, bike lanes on side streets

[58:49] like Midland or Summit, and that it's kind of difficult because you don't

[58:54] really need a bike lane as it stands right now along those streets. Um,

[58:58] because there's just not enough traffic to really demand them. And then also

[59:01] those streets are a bit limited where they kind of they they end at a certain

[59:06] point. And the place the reason why you also want to have bike lanes is because

[59:11] people are for obvious reasons going down the most trafficked streets

[59:16] already. So they want to have a form of protection on those trafficked streets

[59:21] that is currently not there for people like myself. And then also another

[59:27] person made a point about not being able to go up and down the hills or like but

[59:33] I mean with the advent of like ebikes and I mean I see plenty of cyclists do

[59:40] frequent those uh those streets with with no worries uh whatsoever. But

[59:45] that's that's all I want to say is uh thank you.

[59:49] » Thank you. >> Thank you uh Doug.

[59:56] Yes. Hi. Uh, thanks Vic. Um, so, uh, I want to speak in support of the bike

[1:00:03] lanes and I want to thank the township committee and and the administrator and

[1:00:08] the engineer, uh, for taking the initiative on this. I commend the effort

[1:00:14] um to uh [clears throat] um first of all the the bike lane plan which I hadn't

[1:00:20] seen before as well as to implement the bike lane plan. Um I did have a couple

[1:00:26] of comments. Um so for one um uh bikes need to be able to make left

[1:00:34] turns. So, the bike lanes are good as as shown on the plan for going straight or

[1:00:40] making right turns. Um but um uh perhaps uh some bike boxes would be helpful um

[1:00:50] at intersections for making left turns, particularly at heavily

[1:00:55] uh um trafficked intersections like uh the one that jumped out to me was

[1:01:00] Maplewood Avenue, but also Valley Street and Academy as well as other hightra

[1:01:06] intersections. Um

[1:01:10] uh in terms of the travel lane width, um the um

[1:01:16] this is a street I think that school buses use on. So um while a narrower

[1:01:22] train lift train, I'm sorry, a narrower narrower lane width is helpful for

[1:01:28] traffic calming. Um, we also have to be cautious about um when buses pass each

[1:01:35] other that they don't clip their mirrors. Um, I think at one point New

[1:01:39] Jersey Transit was recommending a minimum lane width of 10 and 1/2 ft, but

[1:01:45] probably dynamic traffic could verify what the current minimum recommendation

[1:01:50] is for that. Um, and again, that's just to avoid the buses clipping each other's

[1:01:55] rearview mirrors. Um, one thing, um, I wonder about too is at

[1:02:04] Valley Street. I don't know if there's a planned improvement for Valley Street by

[1:02:07] the county, um, as they're improving other intersections.

[1:02:12] Um, if they are, this might be an opportunity to install a bike signal as

[1:02:17] part of the signal. Um, you know, a separate little signal for bicyclists to

[1:02:22] use. Um and [clears throat] um this is this next thing is less about

[1:02:29] bikes but more about efficiency is that I've wondered whether a barn dance type

[1:02:36] crosswalk situation would make the intersection more both safer and more

[1:02:41] efficient. Um, a barn dance is where um all the cars stop and it's all

[1:02:48] pedestrians. Not just to cross the street corner to corner, but to cross

[1:02:53] diagonally across the street so that pedestrians only have to cross one

[1:02:58] street, so they're crossing fewer streets, so they're in the street for

[1:03:02] less time, which gives the cars more time, more green time. Um, someone would

[1:03:07] have to obviously do the calculations to see if that makes the intersection more

[1:03:11] efficient. I'm not sure that it would, but I just thought I'd bring it up. Um,

[1:03:16] so again, I I commend the effort. Um, I've worked with

[1:03:20] Dynamic Traffic before. It's a great firm. Um, uh, thank you. That's all I

[1:03:25] have. >> Thanks, Doug. Jason,

[1:03:33] » yes. Hello. Sorry. Um, yeah, you all can hear me, I assume. Okay, excellent. Um,

[1:03:38] yeah, I just wanted to briefly speak out in favor. Um, I'm very glad to hear

[1:03:43] about this. Again, I live um on the east side of town, very close to Parker. So,

[1:03:48] this would have a I think very positive impact my family. My children are in

[1:03:52] middle school now, but they would be able to ride their bikes to uh Colombia,

[1:03:57] which would be fantastic if they could do that. Um, and to be able to do it uh

[1:04:02] safely. I also think that um we have a tendency to think of car infrastructure

[1:04:07] as like natural or godmade or something, but it's it's not. We made decisions to

[1:04:12] make everything revolve around cars and it's had very negative impacts on being

[1:04:17] able to get around without a car. Um that's literally killing us in the

[1:04:22] planet right now. And so I think I mean just in a holistic level like cutting

[1:04:26] back on car infrastructure is probably a good thing to do. And I think um if we

[1:04:30] can get more ways for people to get to Colombia, it would actually cut down on

[1:04:33] the drop off traffic. We wouldn't need as many cars there. So I think um just

[1:04:38] on that level would be great. And again, I do understand some people's

[1:04:40] frustrations. I just think that um I've lived abroad in places that have bike

[1:04:44] lanes and it dramatically improves the quality of life, I could say. And I'm

[1:04:50] glad to have that in our town. Thanks. >> Thank you, Ken.

[1:04:56] » Yeah. Hi. Uh thanks. This is a a great presentation. Um the I have a couple

[1:05:02] points. Uh one is about the high school. It was like the first point I had. Um

[1:05:06] I'm in favor of uh the bike lanes by the way. Uh in terms of the high school,

[1:05:11] that is a concern. I don't know if it's possible to actually move all the bike

[1:05:14] racks for the school to the east part. Uh, so it's completely separate from all

[1:05:20] the pickups and drop offs because I think that's going to be a herculean

[1:05:24] task and it's only going to tie up that traffic between the school and 7-Eleven.

[1:05:28] So, I don't know if this has been presented yet to the high school, but if

[1:05:31] they could actually move where the kids uh go to their bike racks, that probably

[1:05:36] would alleviate a lot of those issues. Um, otherwise, um, will this affect the

[1:05:42] Jity stops that are on Parker?

[1:05:48] » I have to say we didn't talk about that. It's a very good point. We'll have to

[1:05:50] Yes, it will. We'll have to figure that out.

[1:05:52] » Okay. Because I I ride the Jitney. I'm I'm near Bordon Park. And then, um, uh,

[1:05:58] uh, Patrick Downey, you mentioned about the speed limit. Um, it's 25 right now.

[1:06:04] He said it's a little bit above average from what you've done before or seen. So

[1:06:08] when will you know if the speed limit's going to be changed?

[1:06:12] » So it's not necessarily that we would be looking to change the speed limit. It's

[1:06:16] really to through a systematic design improvements bring the travel speeds

[1:06:20] occurring more in line with that speed limit. So right now what we're seeing

[1:06:24] the averages range between 24 to 30 depending on location. The 85th

[1:06:28] percentile which is a popular design metric is 28 to 34. So, the upper end of

[1:06:33] that is getting to be almost 10 miles per hour outside of what the speed limit

[1:06:36] is. Um, through narrowing the lanes, uh, additional emphasis on pedestrians and

[1:06:41] cyclists. We're hoping that number comes back down.

[1:06:43] » Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, uh, Alex.

[1:06:52] » Hey, good evening. Um, I just want to thank everybody for this really

[1:06:55] thoughtful presentation. Um, and the effort that the council is making

[1:07:01] towards making our road safer. Um, so I'm actually one of the statistics. Uh,

[1:07:05] two years ago I was hit by a high schooler on Parker who was pulling into

[1:07:09] the faculty parking lot. Um, I was in the middle of the lane. I think someone

[1:07:14] else said you take the middle of the lane when you're on Parker cuz it's the

[1:07:16] safest thing to do. Um, and I'm a pretty experienced cyclist. Um the the the kid

[1:07:22] legitimately probably he said he couldn't see me because of the

[1:07:25] congestion from all the illegally parked cars. Um and if you look at that

[1:07:30] corridor right now um during school hours you it's basically illegal to um

[1:07:36] stop or stand um or idle I think is one of the signs. Although most of them were

[1:07:40] pretty sun damaged at this point and could use replacement which I think this

[1:07:44] project would do. Um, and so I like I think there's a lot of really great

[1:07:50] stuff here. Um, everyone's made a lot of really good points around that as well.

[1:07:54] I just have a couple of other suggestions or considerations for the

[1:07:58] group. Um, the the first one is I would strongly encourage a leading pedestrian

[1:08:03] interval um at the traffic uh signals. Um, that would allow cyclists and

[1:08:09] pedestrians to cross ahead of the cars. Um, and I would also, if it's not

[1:08:13] already a law for the town to make it legal for cyclists to use the LPI, New

[1:08:18] York City implemented this and it made intersections a whole lot safer. Um, the

[1:08:23] the second thing would be to re I didn't see it specifically on the proposal, but

[1:08:28] to revisit um the top of Maplewood Avenue and Parker. Um something like

[1:08:35] everyone's a lot of folks have said this but like these improvements ought to

[1:08:40] make uh it safer for all road users including drivers. Um frequently drivers

[1:08:46] are are driving into oncoming traffic because they cannot judge that turn for

[1:08:50] whatever reason. Um so some some kind of alteration to keep them on the right

[1:08:55] side of the road would be great. Um I have been both in my I drive and bike.

[1:08:59] Um, I've been in my car and almost been hit several times by people making that

[1:09:04] turn. Um, another suggestion for consideration would be at Parker and

[1:09:09] Prospect. It we've had crash after crash after crash. Um, I live a few doors down

[1:09:14] on Prospect by Parker. Um, I would strongly encourage us uh at the town to

[1:09:22] ban right on red for that whole intersection. Um, right now it says

[1:09:25] right on red when children are present. I can tell you no one is looking to see

[1:09:29] if children are present before they decide to make a ride on red. Um and I

[1:09:33] believe cars going around other cars to make ride on reds have contributed to a

[1:09:37] number of accidents. Um to address some of the other concerns

[1:09:43] like we we need when you reduce road volume it it has the it has the effect

[1:09:49] of reducing the number of cars on the road. Um I I know folks have made the

[1:09:53] suggestion to somehow redirect traffic to the side streets. When you reduce the

[1:09:57] volume of the roads, it will have that effect, which this project should

[1:10:01] accomplish. Um and roads like Summit are already generally pretty safe to bike on

[1:10:05] because they have natural traffic calming measures. Like they're

[1:10:09] staggered, they have a lot of stop signs. Um so that's already in place.

[1:10:13] Um, and I also really appreciate the thought that's gone around addressing

[1:10:18] and around Columbia High School protecting that lane. Um, because the

[1:10:23] the drop off situation definitely needs to be remediated. Um, I've I've talked

[1:10:27] to kids who are biking to school. Um, when I was laying on the ground after I

[1:10:31] was hit, a bunch of kids actually came over to me and they were like, "You have

[1:10:34] the right to be in the road." Um, which like at at a really bad moment kind of

[1:10:39] made me like a little thankful when I didn't know if my ankle was broken

[1:10:43] because it's like there's other kids going through this. Um, we really owe it

[1:10:48] to our kids and other and family members uh to to protect them as road users. Um,

[1:10:53] because like even if you are a a driver or if you don't bike and you just walk,

[1:11:00] that area is super dangerous. Um, it's more dangerous than a lot of

[1:11:04] intersections in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Um, you may not realize it cuz like it

[1:11:08] it feels smaller. Um, but it really is. Um, and and these measures should make

[1:11:13] it a whole lot safer. Um, believe me, you do not want to be in a car accident.

[1:11:18] You have to use insurance from your car company, which sounds as bad as it is.

[1:11:23] Um, and and if a kid is hit or someone that's like not lucky to work work at

[1:11:27] home like I do, um, it could have like a lifealtering effect for them both

[1:11:31] economically and if they have to, god forbid, take painkillers or anything

[1:11:35] like that. So, um, again, I applaud uh the work that the the town's done. It

[1:11:40] seems really thoughtful. Um, but I would also appreciate if you could take those

[1:11:44] suggestions under consideration. Thank you.

[1:11:46] » Thank you. >> Um,

[1:11:49] Carmen, >> hi. how are you? Um, I am

[1:11:56] a almost a 30-year resident of Maplewood and I live up the block from Columbia

[1:12:01] High School. So, I think that these the bike lane is going to significantly

[1:12:07] significantly impact the residents of um especially those within the Colombia

[1:12:13] High School area. Uh, I am not against bike lanes. I think they're very good

[1:12:21] for the community and for the environment. However, I think that

[1:12:25] choose that the area around Columbia High School should be exempted in some

[1:12:31] way from the bike lane situation. I'll tell you why. I have, like I said, I've

[1:12:37] been living here a very long time. I have seen a lot in front of Parker

[1:12:42] Avenue. I have not been able to get out of my uh driveway and I don't have the

[1:12:46] benefit of a very long driveway. Um, I have a basically a twocar driveway. I

[1:12:52] have to go out to move my car and I have to echo a lot of the concerns that Brian

[1:12:57] had um spoken about and also um um Mr. Miller about uh looking at alternatives

[1:13:06] to routes for the streets. Um the first of all,

[1:13:14] Parker Avenue and I understand that that you would like to have this done to sort

[1:13:20] of lessen the speed of cars, but that's not really going to change. I have seen

[1:13:25] cars speeding down here. There used to be a time when the police would would

[1:13:29] actually stop frequently in front of my house um because people uh cars and uh

[1:13:35] drivers are speeding down. Um, as someone who uh has been very

[1:13:40] involved in the community, I worked for the township for Soma Two Towns. I've

[1:13:45] been uh uh president of PTAs. I have noticed that the the the

[1:13:55] I have noticed that Parker Avenue is is is a is a very busy street, right? It's

[1:14:02] very busy. the cars are zooming down and um

[1:14:07] just today um I saw a young man get out of the parents' car, fling the door open

[1:14:16] and heaven forbid there would be a bicyclist coming down that bicyclist

[1:14:21] would have been thrown onto my l onto my uh lawn because that is that is what

[1:14:27] happens here. If if you have any understanding of what Colombia um what

[1:14:32] the traffic is like here in the mornings um uh for Columbia High School, you

[1:14:37] would know that this is a a disaster waiting to happen, that kids are going

[1:14:43] to get hurt. Um when you come down from Parker uh Crossover Prospect going down

[1:14:51] the hill, you can barely see uh what's in front of you and there have been

[1:14:57] accidents, right? Um I think that's that's a consideration. First of all,

[1:15:02] there's poor lighting on Parker. But you know what? The most important part for

[1:15:05] me, and I know that there are others who support the the bike lanes, um, and many

[1:15:11] of whom I'm hearing from do not actually live on Parker. Um,

[1:15:17] as a Parker resident, I think that there has to be some compromise here. Uh the

[1:15:24] compromise it should be that that residents should be allowed to park

[1:15:29] during a certain uh time during the um during the day. Right now the parking is

[1:15:36] from 9 to 11 and 1 to 3. What you're proposing or what this plan is proposing

[1:15:41] is 247 no parking. And I think that's very unfair to the residents to to the

[1:15:48] homeowners on Parker Avenue. It affects their market value. Okay. And I, you

[1:15:53] know, I that's important to us and I think that right now this plan is

[1:16:00] compromising the interests of the residents, especially those around

[1:16:06] Colombia High School for the benefit of maybe 40 or 50 bikes. And we don't even

[1:16:12] know if those 40 or 50 bikes are students riding down Parker Avenue or

[1:16:17] they're coming from other parts of town. Um, the other reason that there is low I

[1:16:22] I I heard that one of the evidence for choosing Parker Avenue is that uh very

[1:16:27] little uh parking activity. Well, if you come here between 9 and 11, no one's

[1:16:33] going to be parked because they're following the rules. If you if you come

[1:16:36] here between 1 and 3, no one is going to be parked because you're following the

[1:16:41] rules. So 247 prohibition against parking in front of my own home where

[1:16:48] the surrounding um streets provide no parking. Um let's say academy the board

[1:16:56] of education that's all part board of ed parking. There's no parking there during

[1:17:01] the day on North Terrace. The parking is also limited from 9 to 11 and 1 to 2. If

[1:17:09] I need work on my house, if I need to have um people visit me for whatever

[1:17:14] reason, right, medical um we have to think about seniors too, right? They

[1:17:20] cannot be uh driving and parking in a certain area and walking up, especially

[1:17:25] if it's it's snowing, especially if the weather is bad. So, I I think that, like

[1:17:30] I said, I I I I support bike lanes. I think it's great, but I think that that

[1:17:39] bike lanes around Columbia High School because I don't I think we're the only

[1:17:42] ones that are affected this significantly as opposed to those over

[1:17:47] on the other side of Prospect. So, I really would hope that this is not a

[1:17:52] done deal because I have seen that before where you know you have community

[1:17:56] input and then it it's done anyway. Um, but last thing I want to say is that I I

[1:18:03] really did not appreciate the the the um the short notice of this plan of this uh

[1:18:10] meeting. Um I got a letter in on Wednesday on my porch. Uh and then on

[1:18:16] Friday an email. Fortunately, I'm very techsavvy and I and I and I I read

[1:18:21] emails. Um but at this point, um I think that you may have a low uh response rate

[1:18:28] here. mainly because of the lack of notice or adequate notice for this

[1:18:34] meeting which will significantly impact um the the residents of Parker Avenue,

[1:18:40] specifically Columbia High School. >> Thank you, uh Kate.

[1:18:47] » Yeah, thanks. Um I just wanted to voice my support for the bike lanes. Um I bike

[1:18:52] all around town. I have an ebike. I bike with my daughter on the back and I have

[1:18:56] a son who goes to Columbia and who bikes there all the time and there's a lot of

[1:19:01] kids who bike there and there should be more. I mean, part of the reason the

[1:19:04] traffic there is so bad is because some kids aren't, you know, aren't choosing

[1:19:09] to bike or walk or or do other active ways to get to school and anything we

[1:19:13] can do to encourage that would be great. Um, so I'm strongly in favor Parker is

[1:19:19] the right place to put this in because it's not safe um to cycle on the busy

[1:19:24] roads and that's where you end up going. You're going to go the most direct

[1:19:28] route. You know, you're it's transportation, right? It's not

[1:19:30] recreation. Um so you want to make them as safe as possible. I think, you know,

[1:19:36] we're behind here in these towns when it comes to this stuff and it's actually

[1:19:40] going to hurt our property values um at some point that we don't have better

[1:19:44] bike infrastructure because a lot of people are coming to expect it um as

[1:19:47] part of a safe, walkable, you know, green community. Um so I am strongly in

[1:19:54] support. A couple more specific recommendations. Um more protection and

[1:20:00] more ballards. those, you know, just painting the road on the the line on the

[1:20:05] street, you know, it does not give you a lot of protection from a car. Um, and

[1:20:10] I'm very, you know, worried when I have my daughter on the back that, you know,

[1:20:15] we're not visible enough, someone's not going to see us, someone's going to make

[1:20:18] a mistake. Um, so having any any additional visibility or ideally

[1:20:24] physical protection you could put would be would be wonderful. Um, it really

[1:20:27] makes all the difference. Um, someone mentioned it, but bike boxes at the

[1:20:32] intersections, especially on um, you know, coming up to Prospect going east

[1:20:37] because if you're on a bike and you have a heavy load on the back, um, sometimes

[1:20:41] it's hard to get going if you're on an angle and going up a hill. So, a bike

[1:20:45] box would allow you to be able to turn left and would give a little bit more

[1:20:48] just a little bit more safety, a little bit more space there. Um, and my other

[1:20:53] suggestion is maybe bike parking in a couple different places of the at the

[1:20:57] school rather than all putting, you know, the bikes in one area. Right now,

[1:21:01] they're all sort of combined in the front and um, you know, people lose

[1:21:06] things, helmets gets lost, things like that. So,

[1:21:10] maybe there's a couple other places at the school you could um, you could uh,

[1:21:14] put bike parking. And there's study after study that shows that bike lanes

[1:21:20] are good for local businesses. They help local businesses help property values.

[1:21:25] And I think increasingly people who are moving to a community like ours are

[1:21:29] going to expect a lot more safety on the streets than we have right now. Um, and

[1:21:33] I'll echo, you know, what someone said earlier that it's a lot safer, feels a

[1:21:37] lot safer to actually bike in New York City to me at this point than it does to

[1:21:41] bike out here, even though the traffic volumes are are um, you know, are much

[1:21:45] less out here. And that's because we just haven't we just don't have the

[1:21:49] infrastructure yet, and we really should. So, I commend you all for taking

[1:21:51] this important step. I hope it can be part of a bigger network that the towns

[1:21:56] build um connecting to Soma and I hope we can give people other ways of getting

[1:22:00] around that are fun and healthy and less um impactful on the environment. Thank

[1:22:05] you. >> Thank you, David.

[1:22:10] » Hi, good evening. Can you hear me? >> Yes.

[1:22:14] » Terrific. U yeah thanks for the presentation, but listen, I'm a

[1:22:20] homeowner on Parker A. Um, I live on the north side of Parker Avenue, just uh shy

[1:22:26] of Prospect. And everything I hear from this plan, it it it's apparent that the

[1:22:31] losers here are the residents. We're the ones who are not being considered. Um,

[1:22:36] I've heard on during your presentations more than twice uh this this idea that

[1:22:43] um uh that bicyclists have a right, have the legal right to to to use a road. And

[1:22:50] they do. Um, I'm I'm not anti-bike. I'm not anti- uh bike lanes, but before this

[1:22:57] plan goes into place, and it sounds like it's going to go into place, you guys

[1:23:01] need to seriously consider the impact it's having on us, as Carmen mentioned,

[1:23:06] and Brienne before her. Uh, for instance, what are you guys going to do

[1:23:10] for homeowners who still have oil heat and have the oil

[1:23:15] trucks pull up to fill up their tanks? What are you going to do with the Amazon

[1:23:20] trucks? Uh, we all order from Amazon. Uh, what are you going to do about the

[1:23:25] Fresh Direct trucks that park in front of people's houses to deliver their

[1:23:29] groceries? Heck, what are you going to do about the uh postal trucks uh who

[1:23:35] park uh uh on Parker and Prospect uh when they deliver their their mail? It

[1:23:41] sounds like no thought has been given to this. Certainly, it it's not being

[1:23:46] addressed. Um when we have guests or contractors, they need to park somewhere

[1:23:52] and the surrounding streets here on Kensington

[1:23:56] uh and uh North Terrace and Academy. Some changes are going to have to be

[1:24:01] made if this plan is implemented to allow us to park on those streets or

[1:24:07] allow our contractors who come and improve our homes, to improve the values

[1:24:13] of our homes and improve the township for them to come here and to be able to

[1:24:18] do their work. Um, so the residents I think are being shortchanged. I would

[1:24:25] hope that you would seriously consider um um doing something for us because as

[1:24:30] Brienne pointed out and as Mr. Duca confirmed, something's being taken away

[1:24:35] from us, but our taxes are not going down. Thank you.

[1:24:39] » Thank you. We did we did talk about the delivery. It is something we're trying

[1:24:43] to figure out. Uh, Stephen.

[1:24:48] » Uh, yes. I just want to echo uh my thanks for holding this meeting and um,

[1:24:55] you know, all the work that has gone into this and all the thought that's

[1:24:57] gone into this. Um, I particularly echo what uh, I believe it was Jason and Kate

[1:25:04] said. Um, I think um, especially for Maplewood, I I love I

[1:25:09] love this town and the progressive values, but I always found it odd that

[1:25:13] there were no designated bike lanes um, in a town like this. And again, I I also

[1:25:17] feel safer uh, bicycling in New York City than I do here. Um, and again, it's

[1:25:22] a lack of infrastructure. Um, so I think that this is a a great first step

[1:25:27] towards making the town safer, uh, more equitable, and more desirable. And and

[1:25:31] to touch on that point again because it's come up a few times. Um but you can

[1:25:34] uh look up that or it's very uh apparent that uh property values rise with things

[1:25:41] like bike lanes um greenways and basically like more pedestrian safety

[1:25:45] because that's what people want. They want to live in a safe community where

[1:25:49] they can walk to places safely uh with downtowns with trains. Like that's what

[1:25:54] will help raise property values. It's not I I wish the bike lane was actually

[1:25:57] going past my street cuz my house would rise in value too. Um, but yes, I just

[1:26:00] wanted to echo that and um say thank you to uh everybody working on this to make

[1:26:05] this a reality. [snorts] >> Thank you, Jen.

[1:26:09] » Hi, good evening again. Thank you for this. Um, and we are avid bike riders.

[1:26:13] We're on Parker further up. So, more for the next meeting. Um, and completely we

[1:26:18] would bike our kids to preschool in South Orange from Parker. So, we're huge

[1:26:23] proponents of biking. But my concern off the bat is you hadn't thought about the

[1:26:28] jitneys and you haven't thought about the school buses. The traffic that we've

[1:26:32] all been in while while waiting for school buses to pick up preschoolers or

[1:26:37] sorry kindergarteners while they're waiting to for their mom

[1:26:41] or dad to let them on the bus. It backs up from the high school all the way up

[1:26:46] to prospect while that one child is waiting to get on the bus. So there has

[1:26:50] to be thoughts around the busing. I mean, maybe this integration plan will

[1:26:54] change if we're going to do more biking. Maybe we don't need as much busing. Um,

[1:26:58] but I think there's it's scary to park, ride, or walk on Parker. Your speed

[1:27:06] numbers cannot be accurate based on what we see. Maybe a little bit up, you know,

[1:27:12] as you head towards Armington, they hit the gas a little more, but they are

[1:27:17] traffic is going way over 35 miles an hour on this road. And when we have

[1:27:22] guests come over, we tell them to park on the side streets because I do not

[1:27:27] trust anyone driving on this road. We have been sideswiped numerous times. So,

[1:27:32] unless there's some kind of barricade or maybe both the bike lanes are on one

[1:27:37] side of the street and you build something, but it is it's scary up here

[1:27:42] to to be on the road. So, but thank you and I hope these conversations continue.

[1:27:48] » Thank you, Casey.

[1:27:52] Uh yeah, I just wanted to thank you for the presentation. I am a resident of uh

[1:27:56] Parker Avenue and I just want to uh echo the sentiments from uh Carmen, Brianna,

[1:28:02] Craig, and David that uh you know, as a homeowner on Parker, this is negatively

[1:28:06] impacting us. Um I can completely respect the need to increase safety. Um

[1:28:12] but Parker Avenue, as was just noted by Jen, is uh there's a lot of reckless

[1:28:17] driving here. Um, and I think congesting those roads more with with narrowing the

[1:28:21] lanes and uh and trying to add more bikes uh is just going to create more

[1:28:26] problems. I'd be interested to know if you guys have more kind of specific bike

[1:28:29] data on the amount of of bikers that are experienced on a typical day. Um, I'm

[1:28:35] also concerned about the jitney stops being taken away. Guest parking workers.

[1:28:41] Uh, the heck the garbage guys coming. Uh, where are they going to park their

[1:28:44] truck when they want to go grab my garbage? are they going to end up

[1:28:47] charging me more? Um, and just echoing the concerns of the actual residents of

[1:28:53] Parker who are going to be impacted, not the um, not the others. So, thank you.

[1:29:00] » Yeah, just to be clear, we haven't said we're going to eliminate the Jity stops.

[1:29:04] We're going to figure it out. >> Right. Right. I just concerned because

[1:29:08] they have to stop and not be stopping in the uh, bike lanes, which is just danger

[1:29:12] to the bike. >> Well, we have to figure out something.

[1:29:15] » I appreciate it. So, I look forward to hearing more.

[1:29:17] » Okay, Josh. >> Yes, thank you. Um, it sounds like

[1:29:22] there's a lot that still needs to be figured out. Uh, and I have to tell you,

[1:29:28] I'm a resident of Parker between Academy and Prospect

[1:29:33] and the congestion is unbelievable, particularly in the mornings. Uh, I'm

[1:29:39] often not able to leave my driveway or it's quite difficult. Uh, and I was a

[1:29:47] little bit surprised when you began by recognizing the problem at the high

[1:29:53] school and then said you're waiting to hear

[1:29:57] from the high school about how they're going to solve it. So, I just wanted to

[1:30:02] get your commitment that the next time there's a meeting, there's a response

[1:30:09] from the high school so we know what the situation is because that's really the

[1:30:14] serious part of this proposal. And that's where I fear, you know, people

[1:30:21] are really going to be hurt. I can't tell you. You know, people drop kids

[1:30:26] off. They open car doors into what would be the bike lane. It It's pretty serious

[1:30:32] stuff. And I really would like a commitment that we will understand what

[1:30:38] the high school is going to do about this to uh eliminate this problem of

[1:30:43] very congested drop offs. >> Yeah. Um just so we did meet with the

[1:30:50] principal at the high school and uh that was our second meeting and we've had you

[1:30:55] know a discussion with him and he raised a number of questions and concerns um

[1:31:00] that we're working through. I don't I don't recall someone saying we're

[1:31:04] waiting to hear but we're not waiting. We're working we're in conversation with

[1:31:08] the high school. We're we're going to try to solve this.

[1:31:13] Well, we're waiting to hear how you're going to

[1:31:17] » we understand that. Thank you. Uh Martin,

[1:31:22] » uh yeah. Um I'm a resident of Parker. Uh I just want to chime in here and say I

[1:31:27] think this is a huge win for families that live on Parker that are raising

[1:31:31] kids here. Um you can look just on Zillow in terms of property values.

[1:31:36] There's a walkability and a bike ability score. That's that's reflected directly

[1:31:40] in your property values on Zillow. Um, home buyers are looking for a walkable,

[1:31:46] bikable community. Um, they're looking for safe streets. Um, the front yard of

[1:31:52] of my house on Parker Avenue should be a place where my kids can play. We

[1:31:56] shouldn't be held hostage by dangerous roads. Um, so when I hear people say

[1:32:01] like, "Oh, we should do bike lanes on side streets because Parker's too

[1:32:06] dangerous," I I'd really push back. We're we're we need bike lanes on Parker

[1:32:10] because it's too dangerous. Um, so yeah, I just I just think that

[1:32:16] Maplewood is a town that's going to lead the way and um, if we do this

[1:32:20] successfully, I think we're going to be setting an example for all the towns

[1:32:23] around us and I think it's the right thing to do. So, I want to thank

[1:32:26] everyone for this presentation today. I think it was really good.

[1:32:32] » Thank you. Um, is there anyone else who didn't get a chance to make a comment or

[1:32:37] ask a question?

[1:32:50] Okay, I see no one else. So, um, thank you everyone for your comments. We heard

[1:32:56] from 18 of you. Um, and we are, you know, this is exactly what we were

[1:33:02] looking for to hear what some of the concerns are. Um, you know, we we

[1:33:08] thought of some of these some, you know, the the thing on the jity, I'll be

[1:33:10] totally honest. We kind of missed it. So, we'll be talking about that. Um,

[1:33:16] but we are we are going to be having two more meetings. As I said, I'm just going

[1:33:20] to put that up again just to remind you. We have a meeting uh next Monday and

[1:33:28] we're going to be focusing on the area which is you know again primarily

[1:33:32] residential except for a couple of the religious institutions and that'll be

[1:33:37] from Prospect to Bdon and then on the 24th we're going to be um looking at

[1:33:43] Bdon to Irvington Avenue business district. uh you know, April 9th, we'll

[1:33:47] be talking about, April 15th, and you know, until we have a decision, we're

[1:33:51] going to keep talking about it. And it's it's not a done deal. We're still trying

[1:33:56] to figure out um I think there's a desire to move forward um with

[1:34:01] something. Uh and we're trying to figure out what makes the most sense. Uh

[1:34:06] Carmen, you spoke, but you can speak again, but we're going to ask you to to

[1:34:10] be real quick. >> I will be real quick. In the event that

[1:34:14] this bike lane proposal becomes a reality, I would like I would like as a

[1:34:19] Parker resident to for this the town to look at where residents will be parking

[1:34:27] in the area um and maybe um ex limit the um or eliminate any of the no

[1:34:36] parking um on the side streets so that people can park their cars. I mean,

[1:34:41] that's an alternative. Um but um you know my position is that we should do

[1:34:48] something about not instituting this around the Columbia High School area.

[1:34:52] And thank you. >> Great. Thank you.

[1:34:55] » Okay. Uh members of the township committee, anybody have anything to say?

[1:35:01] » We good. >> Nope. Thanks for everybody coming out.

[1:35:04] » All right. Thank you everyone. Um you're certainly welcome to come back on the

[1:35:09] 10th. Thank you to all of our presenters.

[1:35:13] » See you. >> Bye.

Parker Ave Bike Lanes - Community Meeting: Mar 3, 2025

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