Dear Sergeant Corio,

We are concerned residents who live near the intersection of Bellevue Avenue and Broad street. As the new school year approaches, we would like to bring a traffic concern to your attention. Many school-age children who attend Brookdale School live off of Broad Street and Bellevue Avenue. Many of these children would be able to walk to school, unsupervised via Broad Street or Claremont, if they were able to cross Bellevue Avenue safely. Drivers speed down Bellevue Avenue, making it unsafe for children to cross unsupervised; this is the main reason parents do not allow their children to walk to and from school. Additionally, as more families have moved into the area over the years, the number of children living in our area has increased. Furthermore, we have noticed that there are several crossing guards stationed on the other sides of Brookdale Park; however, there are none stationed on the Bellevue Avenue side.

We are requesting that a crossing guard be present on school days, both in the morning and the afternoon, so that children can cross Bellevue Avenue safely to get to and from school.  One suggestion would be to station a crossing guard at Bellevue Avenue and Broad Street, on the side of LUKOIL gas station and not ShopRite.

Thank you for your consideration of our request for the safety of our kids!