Calming Traffic in City Park
By Albert B. Kelly
If you’ve driven through
City Park lately, you’ve noticed the speed bumps at various points along Mayor
Aitkin Drive. I say speed bumps, but they’re more like “speed elevations”,
built to DOT specs; they are traffic calming measures to encourage drivers to
slow down through the park.
Depending on what side of
things you’re on, they can either seem like a good thing or a real nuisance. If
you’re driving, they are no doubt a nuisance, things installed to break your
stride and slow you down-shaving precious seconds off your journey.
But this is a good thing,
because if you’re a pedestrian, those speed bumps could mean the difference
between life and death, safety and harm. The hope is that these traffic calming
efforts, along with the newly installed sidewalks, will allow residents and
visitors to traverse through the park on foot safely.
Our park is an urban park
and as such, it is a place first and foremost for residents to relax; enjoy
some recreation, play sports, unwind outdoors or simply enjoy some nature. But
it is also an inviting place for visitors to enjoy what they may not possess in
their own communities. Whatever the activity, it should be done safely.
At the outset, portable
digital signs were at both ends of Mayor Aitkin Drive to alert drivers to slow
down and navigate these new speed bumps. These signs help driver-awareness for
those who regularly use Mayor Aitkin Drive to get about the city. Going
forward, speed limits will be strictly enforced.
We are fortunate that
we’ve not had many accidents over several decades because there were always a
certain percentage of drivers who far exceeded the posted speed limit on Mayor
Aitkin Drive. But as we place more emphasis on developing and enhancing our
park and as we position the park as a destination, it is necessary to bake
traffic safety into the cake.
When you get down to it,
the park is all about people being out and about in its confines, not the convenience
of an alternate north-south route through the community. Along those lines, it
may be well worth it to have some detailed analysis done to determine if
certain parts of Mayor Aitkin Drive should be closed to traffic entirely in the
future.
If you’ve ever been to
Central Park in NYC, you will note many roads and lanes closed to vehicle
traffic precisely to encourage the free flow of people through all areas of the
park. I like the concept of no vehicle traffic as urban parks should be an open
and safe haven for pedestrians and bike riders. But that’s another discussion.
For now, the park will
continue to be a major focus among many for my administration because it has so
much potential from both a recreational standpoint but also from an economic
development standpoint. It will take time and careful consideration, but it is
one of our chief assets.
In addition to residents
and visitors in the park, we have many students walking through the park from
Bridgeton High School. The sidewalks and traffic calming devices along Mayor
Aitkin Drive were installed with these students in mind as well.
Many students, rather than
walk down West Avenue to W. Commerce or W. Broad Street to wherever they’re
going, routinely cut through the park and walk along Mayor Aitkin Drive on
their way to home. The hope here is that they can do so with a greater measure
of safety than before.
Finally, beyond those
visiting the park and the students cutting through the park, we also have
animals from the zoo; whether peacocks, geese, or ducks. These creatures
routinely walk about the roadway moving from the zoo to wooded areas and back.
I would like to think that our animals are safe there as well.
Pedestrians, bike riders
and animals are all vulnerable when crossing the road. The park is a place
where kids run and play and sometimes they don’t always pay attention to what’s
happening around them so those of us driving need to take special care on Mayor
Aitkin Drive.
With all of these in mind,
my appeal to all who drive their vehicles through City Park is to slow down-way
down- take your time moving through the park and do so carefully. It won’t
delay your journey all that much and it will help to ensure that everyone stays
safe.