Every child in Cranford should have a safe way to walk or bike to school.

Families living in the neighborhoods north of Brookside Place School, near Nomahegan Park and Union College, currently have no crossing guard coverage anywhere along their route to and from school.

Many of these families live less than a mile from Brookside Place School and therefore do not have school bus transportation. For our family, BPS is just 0.7 miles away — close enough that walking or biking should be a realistic option.

Unfortunately, the route requires children to navigate Springfield Avenue, a busy four-lane roadway with vehicles traveling approximately 35 mph, as well as the heavily trafficked area surrounding Union College. Cars regularly enter and exit the college, adding another significant intersection for young children to navigate.

And yet, there is not a single crossing guard along this entire portion of the route.

This is especially concerning when compared with other neighborhoods surrounding Brookside Place School. Students approaching BPS from the south and west have crossing guards positioned along their routes, with many children passing two different crossing guards on their way to or from school.

We are grateful those protections exist. We simply want children living north of Brookside to have access to the same level of pedestrian safety.

Without a crossing guard, many parents understandably feel their only safe option is to drive their children to and from school every day. Adding appropriate crossing guard coverage would not only make walking and biking safer, but could also help reduce the number of cars arriving at Brookside during already-busy drop-off and dismissal times.

What we're asking for:
We respectfully ask the Township of Cranford, Cranford Police Department and Cranford Board of Education to evaluate pedestrian safety and assign crossing guard coverage along Springfield Avenue between Penn Road and Kenilworth Boulevard, with particular attention to the Union College/Dreyer Farms area and the routes most frequently traveled by Brookside students.

We are not asking the Township to place a guard at an arbitrary intersection. We are asking the appropriate traffic and public-safety professionals to evaluate this uncovered area and determine the safest and most effective location for crossing guard coverage.

This is a relatively small request that could make a tremendous difference for families in an entire section of the Brookside community.

Please sign this petition if you believe children on ALL sides of Brookside Place School deserve a safe way to walk or bike to school.

Together, we hope to work with the Township and Board of Education to have appropriate crossing guard coverage in place for our children.