Hi Berkeley Heights friends and neighbors,

I hope you had a very happy holiday season and a good start to the new year! Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I'm hoping you can take a few minutes of your time to help out our effort to make Berkeley Heights' streets safer—so we can avoid more of the serious injuries and fatalities we saw in 2024. 

First, if you haven't already taken the Complete Streets Task Force survey on your experience driving, walking and cycling in town, please do so here before the Jan. 31 deadline. (And you can earn a gift card just for completing the survey!) If you have already taken it, please share that link with any friends, neighbors, co-workers, employees or regular visitors to our town. Anyone who regularly travels within Berkeley Heights and is 11 or over is welcome to take the survey.

Second, I'm sharing an update below on the Complete Streets Task Force work from John Leo, with whom I collaborated along with 8 other very committed volunteers. Please take a moment to read that and find a couple other very easy ways you can help from the comfort of your own home on this very chilly week!

Be safe out there!

Dana Nigro

dnigrobh@gmail.com

Hi neighbors!

In December, Berkeley Heights completed its first Task Force focused on pedestrian safety: the Complete and Green Streets Task Force. A handful of motivated volunteers collaborated in meetings and workgroups to create a list of projects and recommendations for our Township Council that would bring Berkeley Heights up to modern standards on pedestrian safety. The efforts of these volunteers couldn’t have come at a more important time. In a two-day period in November, Berkeley Heights witnessed three vehicle crashes: one involving a pedestrian, a head-on collision with injuries and one that resulted in two fatalities after the vehicle crossed the curb and sidewalk and hit a tree.

Being a pedestrian involves a certain amount of risk—something that has largely gone unrecognized until recently. It is a risk that starts with a vehicle’s rate of speed and quickly escalates the heavier and taller the vehicle is. The effect of speed on the human body was never designed into the posted speed limits. It was never accounted for that if a person is hit by a vehicle at 40 mph, their chance of death is anywhere between 60% and 90%, according to several different studies. And with the advent of electric vehicles and the increase in delivery trucks on our roads, the weight of the average vehicle passing each pedestrian continues to increase—driving this risk even higher.

This is not a scare tactic. It is a realistic assessment of what we as parents ruminate on when we let our kids walk along Park Ave. Or Mountain Ave. Or any other road with posted speed limits above 35 mph.

It feels like playing a terrible version of the lottery—and our job is to reduce the odds to zero. Hence, New Jersey’s recent creation of the Target Zero Commission and the Vision Zero initiative. We can not stop accidents. We know that. So why not reduce the serious injury and death caused by them when they inevitably happen?

This is the goal. But, we need your help. There are two important initiatives going on right now, so your voice will carry far.

First, Union County successfully secured a major grant called Safe Streets for All (SS4A). The county is currently in the “outreach” phase, which includes a survey. Please take the time to sit down (with a laptop!) and let the county know your concerns in and beyond Berkeley Heights. There is even a map feature so you can identify troublesome roads. They will look at county roads (such as Mountain and Springfield Avenues in Berkeley Heights) but are also assessing township roads, so your feedback could help get funding for key projects here.

Second, please respond to this email here and simply write in the subject line “I’m in!” That will let us know to email you when it's time to email our Township Council or attend a meeting to speak out. The 2024 task force is presenting its findings and report on January 21, at the Township Council meeting at 7 pm at the Municipal Complex. If you’re interested, please attend—it’s right at the beginning, so no need to stay late! We then intend to provide a draft resolution for a Complete Streets policy that immediately addresses the policy shortcomings of Berkeley Heights. The immediate recommendations include:

• An advisory board or committee that will initiate and manage new pedestrian safety projects, 
• Checklists for the township engineer and developers that would ensure both parties examine pedestrian infrastructure appropriate for each project application,
• Developing a list of prioritized expenditures related to road safety enhancements and even considering a budgetary line item to use for pedestrian safety improvements,
• Employing tactical urbanism—a method of testing roadway interventions with little upfront investment to determine appropriate solutions,
• Taking advantage of resources available through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, which includes materials for demonstration projects and a Complete Streets Technical Assistance Program and
• Developing a process in coordination with the PD and BHPS to evaluate the areas around all district schools, including school zones, signage, crosswalks and crossing guards. This work should include updating the Township’s ordinance on school zones and prioritizing action on Mountain (near Mary Kay McMillin) and Park Avenues. 

These are only some of our recommendations, but they are paramount to laying the groundwork to implement safety protections for all road users within Berkeley Heights: pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Traffic calming, speed limit assessments, enhanced crosswalks, trails that bypass busy traffic lanes, proper and modern traffic signaling—all these enhancements are now within our reach. We need the commitment of our neighbors and our town leadership. With your participation, within a matter of weeks, we can start the push to get the council to take serious action.

Thank you all!

John Leo Jr.