Comments Wanted: Moorestown Bicycle Circulation and Safety Plan

As originally report by John and our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

Do you live or bike in Moorestown, NJ? NJ DOT's Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs are working on bicycle plan and have posted an interactive map online to gather comments from the public about bicycling in Moorestown.

NJ DOT and their consultant Toole Design (who are also working on the Philadelphia Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan) are looking for information about streets and routes you believe are bicycle-friendly, or un-friendly, and areas where you think improvements are needed. The comments will be used in the planning process that is underway to establish a comprehensive bicycle circulation plan for the Township of Moorestown.

You can participate in the planning process by going to the online map located here.
http://www.communitywalk.com/MoorestownBikePlan


View Larger Map
An unusual bike lane configuration on Haines Dr. in Moorestown

The Bicycle Coalition is a member of the steering committee and yesterday I had a chance to go out with the study team to look at conditions on the ground. A mid-sized (15 sq. mi pop. 20,000) built out township, Moorestown already looks like a leader of bicycle use among its peer communities in the region. The township has several miles of sidepaths and a steering committee member reported that nearly one hundred bikes are parked at the middle school on warmer days and even the high school typically attracts between 20 and 30 bikes. Walking to school? We saw a score of parents walking children from school at Baker Elementary.

But there are many problems, outside of downtown the township is spread out and multi-use paths sometimes end in the middle of nowhere or cross major arterials without any signalized protection or traffic calming. And while some roads have great shoulders others are narrow and busy. Getting to the Moorestown Mall which is on the other side of Route 38 is nearly impossible to get to by bike.

This is another example of NJ DOT's free Bicycle and Pedestrian planning assistance to counties and municipalities. It's only open for local governments that are committed to supporting bicycling and walking. To apply for this you need your county or municipal elected officials to contact NJ DOT's bicycle and pedestrian office.

Andy B here again:
Looks like this might be in response to a couple of incidents that happened in Moorsetown a few years back. It's good to see the town following through on its commitment to cycling it made back then.

Also, Toole Design is an excellent firm out of Washington DC that does nothing but bicycle and pedestrian planning. They definitely give New Jersey's own and equally good, RBA Group a run for their money for quality consulting on bike/ped planning.