draft letter to camden county officials regarding kresson road improvement request

[rcsh...@aol.com]

Attached and below please find a draft letter to the County regarding Kresson Road and the need for improvements to facilitate safe pedestrian and bicycle travel.  Note that I incorporated Sheree Davis' comments to John on the road's condition that were contained in Barbara's notes of the NJ 2010 Bicycle Summit meeting.

 

We should first send the Freeholders this letter and wait a reasonable interval before gathering signatures on a petition asking them to act.

 

Roxane

 

March 10, 2010

 

The Honorable Louis Cappelli, Jr., Freeholder Director

The Honorable Jeffrey L. Nash, Freeholder

The Honorable Ian K. Leonard, Freeholder Liaison to the Department of Public Works

520 Market Street

8th Floor

Camden, NJ 08102

 

Mr. Frank Moran, Director

Camden County Department of Public Works
Charles J. DePalma Complex
2311 Egg Harbor Road
Lindenwold, New Jersey 08021

Dear Freeholder Director Cappelli, Freeholders Nash and Leonard, and Director Moran:

Currently there is only one way for Camden County residents to cross Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike and travel from the east to the west side of  Cherry Hill on foot or bicycle: Kresson Road.  And that way is currently immensely unsafe for both travel modes. 

The purpose of this letter is to request your collective assistance in finding a way to fulfill Camden County’s commitment to make at least this Kresson Road portion of the Camden County road system “safer for both drivers and pedestrians alike.” 

As former Cherry Hill Councilman Nash will attest, there are no continuous sidewalks and no continuous bicycle lanes on either side of Kresson Road across the New Jersey Turnpike to the point where it intersects with Browning Lane.  At a time when our community and Camden County are promoting sustainable and green policies it is simple not acceptable for there to be no safe way to travel from one side of our town to another without having to get into a motor vehicle.

We urge you to send an inspector from your Public Works Department to report back to you on the condition of Kresson Road and its shoulders, its sidewalks, and its non-existent bicycle lanes along its entire length between Covered Bridge Road and Browning Lane.  Better, ask the inspector to walk and then ride a bicycle both ways to see the poor condition of the shoulders, the potential “death trap pot holes,” and the generally poor condition.  None of you would risk walking or riding this stretch of road regularly and you certainly would not want children to either.   

Ms. Sheree Davis, the Coordinator of the state’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Office in the NJ Department of Transportation, visited the sections of Kresson Road that cross over I-295 and the NJ Turnpike on March 1, 2010.  She reports that the State has jurisdiction “ONLY for the bridge deck” and that Camden County “has jurisdiction of the roadway leading up and into the overpass where the bridge deck and pavement meet.”  She reports that “It is very uneven where the bridge deck seams with the roadway” and that “the County would be responsible to fix that.”  She also reported that “most of the potholes and uneven surfaces” present in this section of road “were in the County jurisdiction.  Finally, she reported the “sidewalks leading up to the overpass are in poor shape, and in some cases are not existent.  Again, this is the jurisdiction of the County.”

There is no question that conditions for bicycling and walking need to be improved in every community in Camden County.  And it is no longer acceptable that bicyclists and pedestrians cannot travel without encountering barriers, especially where there are bridges, and that these two desirable and efficient modes of travel continue to be made more difficult, uncomfortable, and unsafe.

Every transportation and public works agency has the responsibility and the opportunity to make a difference to the bicycle-friendliness and walkability of our communities. The design information to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians is available, as is the funding.  The United States Department of Transportation is committed to doing all it can to improve conditions for bicycling and walking and to make them safer ways to travel.[1]  There is no good reason why Camden County and the State of New Jersey should wait until these Kresson Road bridges have to be rebuilt to make them safe for use by pedestrians and bicyclists. 

Please let us know what if anything you can do to make this portion of Kresson Road safer for bicycle and pedestrian travel.  If you conclude that the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation or the New Jersey Turnpike Authority share this responsibility, please let me know what you could do to cause them to fix this problem and please let me know who at those agencies has the decision authority to do it.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely,

 

Cherry Hill Way to Go Committee

 

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[1] Design Guidance Accommodating Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel: A Recommended Approach

A US DOT Policy Statement Integrating Bicycling and Walking into Transportation Infrastructure at

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bikeped/design.htm#d7

[rcsh...@aol.com]

Thanks John,

 

When we talk about traveling from the  east to west side of Cherry Hill there are only three roads available for traffic, State Rte. 70 with a speed limit of 45 MPH, County Kresson RD. with a speed limit of 40 MPH  and County Berlin-Haddonfield Rd. with a speed limit of 40 MPH.  Kresson is the only one without entrance and exit ramps from Interstate 295.  Chapel Ave. (County) with a speed limit of 25 MPH only provides safe bike travel over Interstate 295 but then requires bicyclists to enter one of Cherry Hill's most dangerous intersections with westbound State Rte. 70 at Old Cuthbert Rd.  Here an eastbound cyclist is forced to violate State traffic laws requiring them to travel with traffic.  State Rt. 38 and Church Rd. provide no acess to the eastside of Cherry Hill.  I thought for these reasons and the fact that Kresson Rd. was lined with residential housing, schools, churches,synagogues and recreational facilties was why it was so important to fix first.  

 

My draft mentioned Freeholder Nash because he is a long time Cherry Hill resident and former Cherry Hill Council member.  As such he must be aware of the problems with Kresson Road.  Rhonda may have contacted him on this issue years ago and nothing has changed.  Cappelli was listed because he is the Director of the Freeholders and may have more power to determine where County tax dollars are spent.  The Freeholder Liason to the Department of Pubic Works may have influence and authority to move some projects up on their priority list or pursuade the Director to do so.  From years of going through the various chains of command with state, federal, and local agencies I have learned it speeds the process up if you immediately go to the most responsible parties as well as the least. 

 

Let's not forget during the January 20th Open Space hearing we attended a County official told the group the Camden Counnty Park Trail has been moving up the Coopee River but will have to use local roads with road signs marking the route beyond the park.  I have no doubt some if not most of the roads used to continue the trail will be County Roads. 

Did Sheree ask that youy leave her name out of any discussions with local authorities on road repair or bike lanes?  If the State has bikeway funding to match the County's it might increase the County's interest in fixing Kresson Rd. if they knew you had already investigated this with the State.  You may be able to determine that during your meetings with the County officials. 

Do you know members of  other bicycle groups that use Kresson Rd. for various fundraiser and races that would be willing to sign on to our requests to the County for road improvements?

Roxane

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Subject: Re: draft letter to camden county officials regarding kresson road improvementrequest

Roxanne,
 
Thank you for taking the time to lay out this letter.  Could we discuss this at the next meeting?  As Barbara mentioned in the notes, I am working on contacting the county using what Sheree suggested.  I am in the process of taking pictures so we can show where the trouble spots are, then I was going to email the County Transportation Department and the Freeholder who is the Public Works Liason.  I think we should talk and get an idea of what each of us has in mind - it would be great to combine forces.  Since Rhonda has worked on this in the past, I would also like to get some input from her.
 
Sheree was very helpful, so I want to be careful how we use her name - for now I think we should leave her name out and instead mention that we talked to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.  We could also mention the fact that the County's responsibility for this section is identified on the Jurisdictional Limit Map for the Kresson Road Intersection of 295 (Sheree was nice enough to send me a copy of this). 
 
Also this is not the only way across 295 and the Turnpike for cyclists and pedestrians - it is one of a few, but it is in desperate need of repair.
 
You mention "As former Cherry Hill Councilman Nash will attest, there are no continuous sidewalks..." - Has someone walked this with Mr Nash - maybe you or Rhonda? 

I like the way you mention that the township and the County are trying to be more green, so the roadway being repaired is important for cyclist safety.
 
Do you think we should be a little less forceful the first time around?  I don't want to ruffle anyones feathers if we don't have to :) - we are asking for something from them.  I also like the idea of having an inspector come to look at the roadway, but it would probably be better if we could meet with them there while they do the inspection, so we could discuss the issues with them on site.  They may decide to look themselves, without us, but it can't hurt to ask.
 
Please let me know your thoughts on my comments and hopefully we can discuss this at the meeting next week.
 
Thanks.

John B.

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From: rcsh...@aol.com

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:44:25 -0500

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Subject: draft letter to camden county officials regarding kresson road improvement request