Once implemented, the new plan will likely result in the significant improvement of safety at that intersection for both vehicular traffic, and for pedestrians as well.
The original site plan, pursuant to which the traffic light was installed at the intersection, was originally approved by NJDOT back in mid-2009. Though City officials had been informed of a basic flaw in the design, and had reportedly had discussions regarding the flaw, they nevertheless failed to submit an amendment to the proposal they had sent to NJDOT seeking approval for the original installation of the traffic light.
That original design plan did not provide for the "squaring off" of the southeast corner of the intersection, as had been specifically recommended to the Mayor and other City officials on a few occasions. The failure to include that element in the original plan, or to amend the original proposal, resulted in the maintenance of a "blind spot" for vehicles and pedestrians, especially for those emerging from South Franklin Street, whether the vehicles were turning left onto Swan Street or going straight across the Swan Creek Bridge on South Franklin in the direction of the intersection of 165/518 & Quarry St., known locally as "the hook."
The implemented design was especially dangerous for pedestrians crossing Swan Street at South Franklin. Drivers and pedestrians were forced to literally drive or walk out onto Swan street to get a view of whether quickly moving traffic was coming off of Route 165 and turning onto Swan.
The State-approved amendment to the original plan, which had been recently received by the City and which was ratified at tonight's meeting, will result in a more "squared off" corner at the corner of Route 165 and Swan. Implementation of that plan will improve the safety of that intersection for both vehicular traffic and for pedestrians by slowing down, or "calming" traffic turning onto Swan Street, thereby improving both the visibility and the reaction time of vehicular and pedestrian traffic emerging from South Franklin Street.
The New Jersey State Department of Transportation had received numerous complaints about the original implemented design, and officials there had appointed a task force of various stakeholders within the Department to evaluate the complaints, and the correction proposed by the City was eventually approved by NJDOT.
Our original post herein about the major safety problems was dated over a year ago in August 2010. The second design flaw involved the location of the signal device, which created a "blind spot" problem for pedestrians preparing to cross Route 165 with the light. To some extent, the broadening of the pedestrian entrance ramp into the crosswalk on Route 165 addresses that second problem, as the original design had pedestrians literally stepping directly into the roadway from behind the large switch box that was blocking their view of oncoming traffic coming from down Route 165.
We also posted additional information regarding those design problems, first here, then we posted one specifically addressing stopping distances here, and finally we released a post exposing disturbing details about the prior knowledge of the design flaws by City officials.
Below is an electronic copy of the design improvement, as was approved by City Council earlier this evening. If you "right click" on the design, you can then open it in a separate tab or window for derailed viewing. In that format, it is further "enlargable" by simply clicking once on the image.
No comments:
Post a Comment