Short summary

The intersection at Hartford Road and Salem Road has a pedestrian crosswalk, but no light - meaning that pedestrians need to cross the road between cars zipping by at 50 mph+.  Let's make it safer by installing a pedestrian crosswalk traffic light, which ONLY turns on when someone is waiting to cross and pushes the button!

Background

The intersection of Hartford Road and Salem Road, at the corner of John Pryor park, is the primary crosswalk for pedestrians, bikers, joggers, and kids. It serves:

1. Kids biking and walking to the UES from Laurel Creek and other communities
2. Kids biking and walking to John Pryor park from Laurel Creek and other communities
3. Recreational runners, joggers, bikers
4. Families biking and walking to the Burlington County Farmer's Market

The south side of Hartford Road, beginning at Salem Road, does not have a sidewalk. So anyone who wishes to walk / bike towards Laurel Creek or any community to the east of Salem Road must cross at Hartford and Salem.

Problem

The speed limit on this street is 45 mph and with a 2-mile stretch of road, without a traffic light, cars routinely go 50-60 mph down Hartford Road! As a result, anyone wishing to cross Hartford Road is essentially crossing a highway. This includes the many children and parents who cross here to get to the Upper Elementary School or John Pryor park.

It's not just dangerous for pedestrians, it's equally dangerous for drivers. When a driver stops, to allow a walker, cars behind that driver are going so fast that they have trouble stopping in time. So they end up slamming on the brakes, and many times narrowly avoiding a rear-end accident by swerving into the other lane or the shoulder.

This problem will only get worse with the new housing being constructed across from the Upper Elementary, on Borton Landing road, so it is important that we act soon.

Solution

This problem can be solved with limited other impacts, by installing a pedestrian stop light above the crosswalk. This stop light would be similar to others across from the Burlington County Agricultural Center and the Westfield Road Dog Park. In both instances, there is a traffic light above the crosswalk. The light is always off (allowing cars to go through uninterrupted), but if a pedestrian is waiting to cross, they can hit the button and the light will begin flashing red - alerting drivers to stop and the pedestrian to cross.

This solution will not impact traffic and will dramatically reduce the risk of this highly used intersection.

This intersection is an accident waiting to happen. Let's prevent it with a simple, low-cost fix!