Speeding and Distracted Driving Issues, Time(s), and Location(s)

I have an upcoming meeting with Sgt. Reeves of the MPD to discuss ways in which speeding, distracted driving, and other moving violations negatively impact pedestrian safety.  He has asked for a listing of problem areas including location and time of day in which these violations occur with some frequency. (He already knows about the left hand turn issue on Maplewood Avenue.)  You can help by posting here issue(s), time(s) and location(s) in Maplewood where these issues occur frequently so the Traffic Division can focus on them.  I promise to present the resulting listing along with my own list and those of other committee members who will be attending this meeting TIA.  

joan_crystal said:

I have an upcoming meeting with Sgt. Reeves of the MPD to discuss ways in which speeding, distracted driving, and other moving violations negatively impact pedestrian safety.  He has asked for a listing of problem areas including location and time of day in which these violations occur with some frequency. (He already knows about the left hand turn issue on Maplewood Avenue.)  You can help by posting here issue(s), time(s) and location(s) in Maplewood where these issues occur frequently so the Traffic Division can focus on them.  I promise to present the resulting listing along with my own list and those of other committee members who will be attending this meeting TIA.  

the entire length of prospect st, Valley, Tuscan rd, Parker and elmwood avenue. I rarely see a police car parked or patrolling. 

The new four-way stop at Prospect and Harvard has a lot of violations, mainly people just following the car in front of them right through the stop sign.  This happens frequently, even when the crossing guard is there.

Irvington Ave. Turning onto Irvington Ave from Essex is difficult. Hedge row on the west side of the corner is "blind" to car coming from South Orange. Add to that, speeding. Street is 25 MPH. Nobody drives that slow.

Add to that, traffic congestion from people dropping off their kids at the day care center and there is the potential for a disaster. There have been accidents in the morning. So far, no serious injuries.

The crossing from Essex to the day care center also needs crosswalk markings.

Thank you so much.  Please keep them coming.  For those who have posted thus far, can you please include time of day/day of week of these observations if you have not already done so?

joan_crystal said:

Thank you so much.  Please keep them coming.  For those who have posted thus far, can you please include time of day/day of week of these observations if you have not already done so?

The worst times are mornings and evenings rush hours. 
I hope we can have another thread about the roads and the repairs that is needed. 
I forgot about Irvington avenue, maybe it’s because I avoid it. Double parking especially by the daycare jersey jack mentioned.

Jaytee said:

I hope we can have another thread about the roads and the repairs that is needed. 

Why not start one?

Prospect St between Tuscan and SO border, mid/late weekday afternoons. I often see kids as young as 12-14 attempting to cross at crosswalks (the ones without crossing guards) and they usually need to wait 3-6 cars, sometimes more, for a car to stop. A little enforcement of the law here please. 

Jaytee said:

The worst times are mornings and evenings rush hours. 
I hope we can have another thread about the roads and the repairs that is needed. 
I forgot about Irvington avenue, maybe it’s because I avoid it. Double parking especially by the daycare jersey jack mentioned.

A problem with Irvington Ave is that it is patrolled by three police departments: Maplrwood, S.O. and Newark.

S.O. does monitor but mostly by the stores at Ward. Newark doesn't seem to give a ****. Maplewood, on the third day after the full moon, you might see a patrol car go by. But that is because they had some other stuff to attend to on Union or some other street.

People routinely ignore pedestrians trying to cross the road at crosswalks. Even on Parker where you can press a button to make a light flash, they still barrel right through.

Speeding on Parker, Elmwood, Prospect, other main roads is totally out of control. The other day I saw a school bus going what must have been 50 on Parker. 

Driving on those roads at the speed limit or a little over isn't fun either. People tailgate like crazy.

Thanks for meeting with them Joan. 

Cars idling on Baker every morning from 6:30 to 7. 

Speeding on the above streets mentioned as well as Valley and Ridgewood. Time and hour equals 24/7. 

Illegal parking and speeding around at least Tuscan every morning between 8:30 and 9. I'm not sure about the other schools, but I would expect the same.

Cops that are low on their monthly quota but are still good cops, could be allowed foot duty on Maplewood Avenue. They would exceed the quota in about three hours.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Cops that are low on their monthly quota but are still good cops, could be allowed foot duty on Maplewood Avenue. They would exceed the quota in about three hours.

I can’t say it enough how I miss that guy who parked his big Harley with the flashing lights in front of the jewelry store at the corner of Baker…light up a fat cigar… whip out his chalk stick… and walked to Ricalton square and back. Nobody would make a left turn into a parking spot while he was on duty. 

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Irvington Ave. Turning onto Irvington Ave from Essex is difficult. Hedge row on the west side of the corner is "blind" to car coming from South Orange. Add to that, speeding. Street is 25 MPH. Nobody drives that slow.

Add to that, traffic congestion from people dropping off their kids at the day care center and there is the potential for a disaster. There have been accidents in the morning. So far, no serious injuries.

The crossing from Essex to the day care center also needs crosswalk markings.

Is that day care center in Maplewood or Newark?  Meeting is with Maplewood PD.

Thank you all for your comments.  I am passing them on to the MPD in writing and will repeat them at this evening's meeting to be sure they are entered into the record.  Any additional locations of interest should be sent directly to the Traffic Division at MPD.

joan_crystal said:

Is that day care center in Maplewood or Newark?  Meeting is with Maplewood PD.

Newark.

Thank you all.  We had a very productive meeting during which I passed  along all of the input provided on this thread.  A lot of other feedback was provided by others present.  Hopefully, we will see some positive results.

joan_crystal said:

Thank you all.  We had a very productive meeting during which I passed  along all of the input provided on this thread.  A lot of other feedback was provided by others present.  Hopefully, we will see some positive results.

Did they offer any specific response besides, "Thank you for your input"?  Will you hear back from them after they review your comments?

Too late but I'll list it anyway:

The intersection of Valley Street and Tuscan Road.  Cars heading south on Valley routinely run through the red light, this happens all day every day. Cars heading north from Valley onto Tuscan also routinely don't stop first at the red light.  This is a very dangerous intersection for pedestrians.

The intersection of Valley and Baker.  There is "no turn on red" from Baker to Valley but cars do it all the time.  Another dangerous intersection for pedestrians.

Can you also talk to him about illegal parking in the village? It's completely out of control.  All along Maplewood Ave cars double park, park in non-existent spots, etc.

Cars drive the wrong way in the Ricalton Square lot and in the NJ Transit lot by Able Baker all the time.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Did they offer any specific response besides, "Thank you for your input"?  Will you hear back from them after they review your comments?

This was an information gathering session.  The Committee provided the input.  I did get an email this morning saying that the information was being shared with the town engineer since some of the issues raised (line of sight, drainage onto the sidewalk, signage, etc. went beyond the scope of the MPDs responsibility.  It is too soon to get any definitive feedback other than thank you. 

yahooyahoo said:

Too late but I'll list it anyway:

The intersection of Valley Street and Tuscan Road.  Cars heading south on Valley routinely run through the red light, this happens all day every day. Cars heading north from Valley onto Tuscan also routinely don't stop first at the red light.  This is a very dangerous intersection for pedestrians.

The intersection of Valley and Baker.  There is "no turn on red" from Baker to Valley but cars do it all the time.  Another dangerous intersection for pedestrians.

Can you also talk to him about illegal parking in the village? It's completely out of control.  All along Maplewood Ave cars double park, park in non-existent spots, etc.

Cars drive the wrong way in the Ricalton Square lot and in the NJ Transit lot by Able Baker all the time.

Please contact Detective Sergeant Reeves directly.  You should be able to get his contact information from the Police Department website or you can call the non-emergency number and ask for his extension.  The MPD is welcoming feedback on this topic from everyone who has an observation to share.  I completely agree with you about the two intersections you mentioned.  Illegal parking in the Village, especially vehicles parked within the crosswalk and left hand turns were mentioned last evening.

Has the MPD put out a request for public feedback?  I don't recall seeing anything.

to be honest everything we have brought up has had to have already been seen by everybody on the township committee and by the police. All you need to do is spend one day going around the town. The amount of times I wish I could just pop a siren on my SUV...

yahooyahoo said:

Has the MPD put out a request for public feedback?  I don't recall seeing anything.

Not publicly.  I am quoting from comments made at last evening's Maplewood Seniors Advisory Committee meeting.  If you are uncomfortable reaching out to the MPD, you can reach out to Amy Stuart at SOMA Two Towns For All Ages who is spearheading the entire Pedestrian Safety Study which includes input from residents, MPD, DPW, Code Enforcement, and the Engineer's Office.  Aim is to take a comprehensive look multiple factors that negatively impact pedestrian safety.  

jfinnegan said:

to be honest everything we have brought up has had to have already been seen by everybody on the township committee and by the police. All you need to do is spend one day going around the town. The amount of times I wish I could just pop a siren on my SUV...

I agree.  It sounds like it's nothing new.  The only real solution is more patrolling, which will cost money that people don't want to spend and result in locals complaining about getting tickets.

jfinnegan said:

to be honest everything we have brought up has had to have already been seen by everybody on the township committee and by the police. All you need to do is spend one day going around the town. The amount of times I wish I could just pop a siren on my SUV...

I have already seen some progress.  Lexington at the intersection of Burnett Avenue and Tuscan Street has been blocked off, making for a much safer place for pedestrians to cross Burnett Avenue in front of the Senior Center.  The timing of the traffic lights on Valley Street has been changed to reduce the number of vehicles running the red light at the Baker Street intersection.  The crosswalk that was in front of Prospect Presbyterian Church has been moved to the corner of Prospect and South Crescent making for a much safer crossing.  All of these changes resulted from resident feedback.  Hopefully other positive changes will come as well.

joan_crystal said:

I have already seen some progress.  Lexington at the intersection of Burnett Avenue and Tuscan Street has been blocked off, making for a much safer place for pedestrians to cross Burnett Avenue in front of the Senior Center.  The timing of the traffic lights on Valley Street has been changed to reduce the number of vehicles running the red light at the Baker Street intersection.  The crosswalk that was in front of Prospect Presbyterian Church has been moved to the corner of Prospect and South Crescent making for a much safer crossing.  All of these changes resulted from resident feedback.  Hopefully other positive changes will come as well.

that intersection of Lexington and Burnett was always tricky to get across. I used to walk my kids down Tuscan to get to dehart and it was always dicey. And that was some 25 years ago. I’m glad they finally closed it off. 
Thank you for all you do for the overall good of the town. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

Resurrecting this old thread ... today on Prospect we stopped for a pedestrian who was patiently waiting to cross at a crosswalk. Car behind us honked, tried to go around us (could have killed the pedestrian if they had succeeded). Kept blowing horn even after we started moving, honked even as we turned onto a side street. They were clearly steamed that we had stopped, as required by law.

WTF is wrong with people? Did they fail their drivers license tests?