It's been nearly two years since this petition was presented, signed and shared with our elected officials.
Thank you again for everyone that took this issue to heart and signed the petition.
Unfortunately, the Township has not taken any significant action to address the safety concerns aside from installing a Right Hand Only Turn sign which goes largely unenforced and consequently ignored by vehicular traffic.
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The Township just advised of the following:
Our Watchung Plaza project is still backed up at DOT.
The annual "gas tax grant " (@ $9 million in 2023) we receive from DOT is 100% dedicated to repaving County roads.
Our office will continue to follow up. Many thanks.
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We will continue to follow-up with the Township as we have for the past 20 months but if history is any indication (read here: New York Times Article 2.6.72), this intersection will not receive the attention it so desperately needs before something truly terrible occurs.
Take a read here to better understand the continued gravity of this situation:
Montclair Local Article 10.25.23
Also, from the article:
The New Jersey Department of Transportation provided this statement: “Essex County received approximately $9.8 million for Fiscal Year 2024 in County Aid, and they have the freedom to spend these funds on one project or many projects. The County has a deadline of December 1, 2023, to inform NJDOT of how they are choosing to spend their funds. Once NJDOT’s Division of Local Aid and Economic Development receives the County’s plans on how funding will be allocated, the Department will review the design plans that have been submitted. This review typically takes about 30 days.”
With this knowledge and stated timeline, we highly encourage you to join us and regularly send an email to our Mayor and 2nd Ward Councilor to support safety in our community and properly address this dangerous issue once and for all.
Sean M. Spiller
sspiller@montclairnjusa.org
Robin Schlager
rschlager@montclairnjusa.org
Feel free to copy/paste verbiage below OR also feel free to be more creative in your prose:
SUBJECT TITLE
WATCHUNG PLAZA SAFETY
EMAIL BODY
We demand a plan of action for the dangerous intersection at Watchung Plaza ASAP!
Thank you again for listening and please be careful out there -