District and police to talk about Cranbury Neck Road safety

[news]

District and police to talk about Cranbury Neck Road safety

By Paul Koepp, Staff Writer
Posted: Friday, October 5, 2007 4:33 PM EDT

CRANBURY — The school board’s Policy Committee will meet with the Police Department on Wednesday to request an examination of safety issues on Cranbury Neck Road near South Main Street.

The school board also has passed a resolution that supports a no-passing zone on the street, said Chief School Administrator John Haney..

The school board has sent the resolution to the Township Committee so that it can ask the Middlesex County and state departments of Transportation to study the area and extend the existing no-passing zone, Mr. Haney said.

Mr. Haney met with Mayor David Stout, three board members and Township Administrator Christine Smeltzer on Tuesday to begin a dialogue, he said.

Mayor Stout said he is receptive to the idea, adding that the street already has a 25 mph speed limit and passing should be prohibited.

”It’s something we should consider,” he said. “We try to work with the county and ultimately the state to make roads safer for all parties involved.”
State DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon said Thursday that the county would review the request first, before sending recommendations to the state.

”DOT will review the request and investigate whether changing the design of the roadway would be safe for motorists,” she said.

When the school district ended busing to Cranbury Neck Road this school year, parents voiced their concerns over the safety of what they consider a busy street and the lack of access to the neighborhood’s nearest cross walk at Symmes Court and Cranbury Neck Road.
Busing to the street was discontinued because it is within two miles of the school on a 25 mph road, Mr. Haney said.

A group of parents presented a letter to the school board four weeks ago asking for assistance from the school board.

Parents in the area are already convinced the police will deem the roadway unsafe because the neighborhood residents conducted their own study in the past, said Bill Reilley, a father of two Cranbury Elementary School students and a Cranbury Neck Road resident. For two or three days in July and August, parents counted more than 200 cars on the road between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., he said.

”That was before school started with basic commuter traffic,” Mr. Reilley said.
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http://www.packetonline.com/articles/2007/10/05/cranbury_press/news/doc4706837799a54993121216.prt

[FL]

In my opinion, the school should resume busing to the residents in this area and add bus service to the areas where students need to pass highway such as Old Trenton Road. It does not save that much by reducing bus service but create a lot of traffic issues to the community.

Main Street is very busy in the morning since a lot of parents driving to send their kids to the school. Offering bus service will reduce local traffic a lot. When a school bus stops to pick up students, nobody dares to pass the school bus.

Some NJ school districts offer options of bus service at a fee to the residents who live within 2 miles of the school but are not physically possible to walk to school each day.
Not sure if the school and any residents are interested in this idea.