DEP Will Be Reconnecting the Canals This Spring

In the 1950's the Delaware and Raritan Canal Towpath was severed by the construction of US 1. The canal at the time was seen as a blight and it's course was in the way of "progress". Now NJ DEP will begin construction this Spring in Trenton on the D&R Canal by connecting the only remaining gap, from Perry Street to Mulberry Street! This will create a continuous 60 mile trail from New Brunswick to Milford in Hunterdon County via downtown Trenton.

North of Milford on the Pennsylvania side PA DCNR is continuing its flood damage repair of the Delaware Canal towpath which when reopened will extend trail connections into Easton PA and the Lehigh Valley network of trail.

New Jersey Bicycle Coalition Goes Online

Our friends at the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition have launched their website http://www.njbike.org/.

The Coalition's Mission is to encourage and promote cycling, provide a collective voice for cyclists, and improve access for cyclists on New Jersey's roads, highways, and trails.

Our Goals and Objectives are to:

* Advocate on behalf of cyclists before public bodies, including elected officials and government agencies
* Focus attention on cycling-related issues which may transcend the interests and abilities of local bicycling clubs
* Sponsor public events, both independently and in partnership with other organizations
* Promote cycling as a healthy, enjoyable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable means of transportation and recreation

NJBC's main focus will be to address bicycle issues in North Jersey which in the planning world can be defined as the NJTPA region spanning from Sussex County down to Ocean County. But their work on the safe passing bill already shows that their presence will have an effect statewide.

WalkBikeJersey has a broader scope as we aspire to be a statewide bicycle and pedestrian organization. We are working closely with the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia as well as other local advocacy organizations such as Bike Montclair and the West Windsor BPA to make sure that we speaking with a unified voice.

Driver charged with vehicular homicide in hit-and-run of Old Bridge resident

The only caveat here is that the crash happen and is being prosecuted in the Pittsburgh area.

You may have read via the New Jersey Bicycle Pedestrian New Digest an article that recently appeared in The Star-Ledger concerning a Old Bridge man killed in a hit-and-run accident that also left another woman critically injured. A local Pittsburgh NBC affiliate covered the crash in a bit more detail. The suspect, Derek Powell faces numerous charges including:

• aggravated assault,
  
• accidents involving death or personal injury,
• homicide by vehicle

I'm quite sure leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence is also on the list but was not mentioned in the article. But what you DON'T see on this list of charges here is DWI or any other charge indication that Powell was intoxicated during the accident.

All too often in New Jersey drivers get off with little more than a 2 point moving violation for failing to yield to a pedestrian (slightly more if they are unlucky) if they kill a pedestrian and are clearly at fault (but dead men tell no tales) and are not drunk or fleeing from police.

I'm glad to see that there is a prosecutor somewhere that understands the harsh realities of vehicular violence and just doesn't dismiss such crashes as mere "accidents."

Okay, admittedly there are some occasional exceptions to the lax prosecution of vehicular violence against bicyclists and pedestrians here in New Jersey but this is all too rare.

Bike Helmet Laws by State

via Insurance Institute of Highway Safety

Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic, pointed out in his blog this map of bicycle helmet laws from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. I thought it was interesting because I didn't know that most states have no helmet law whatsoever. You have to wonder how the states came up with the different ages - from 11 in Pennsylvania to 17 in New Mexico and California. Is it based on crash incidence and severity, or, more likely, just a committee of legislators playing pick a number?

3 Foot Passing Bill Introduced in the NJ State Senate

A safe passing bill has been introduced into the NJ State Senate, look for more information as we get it. In the meantime contact your State Senator and ask them to co-sponsor S2737 sponsored by Senators Oroho and Stack.

Bill No. S2737

Sponsors
Oroho, Steven V. as Primary Sponsor
Stack, Brian P. as Primary Sponsor

AN ACT concerning the operation of motor vehicles in certain cases and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.

Requires motorists operating vehicles to maintain minimum three foot safety distance when overtaking bicycles.

AN ACT concerning the operation of motor vehicles in certain cases and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.


BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The driver of a vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction shall leave a safe distance between the motor vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet until the motor vehicle has safely passed the bicycle. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of $100.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would require motorists to maintain a distance of at least three feet when overtaking a bicycle that is travelling in the same direction. The bill provides for a fine of $100 for violating the three foot minimum distance requirement while overtaking cyclists.

Requires motorists operating vehicles to maintain minimum three foot safety distance when overtaking bicycles.

More Bike Access Needed on Shore Buses

Denver RTD motorcoaches have under the floor luggage bins and front bus bike racks. These buses can carry 2 - 8 bicycles depending on luggage loads. Photo by Sidney on Picasa

As I have written before getting to the Jersey Shore on a NJ TRANSIT bus can be a challenge. Bikes must be placed in the luggage bins and are expected to be loaded last. Because the center compartment has been modified to hold a wheelchair lift there is essentially one bin to store luggage and bikes. During the summer everyone has luggage and cyclists can be left stranded.

So why not make the small investment in bus bike racks on these long distance motorcoaches. This would preserve bike access during peak luggage times and would allow buses to carry 4 or 5 bikes.

New Brunswick Bikeway Fatally Flawed

The Rutgers University daily, The Daily Targum reported last week about the WAY too long awaited New Brunswick Bikeway. To save space you can read about the details here (Proposed path aims to increase bike safety). The story does a good job summarizing the proposed project.

Unfortunately this proposal is so far from ideal it is a step backwards. Below is my unedited response that appeared in today's Targum.

The proposed New Brunswick Bikeway, as reported is fatally flawed!

The routing of this project down Neilson Street instead of using the entire length of George Street forces cyclists on an unnatural, circuitous route that literally pushes cyclists away from and avoids most of the important downtown destinations. Any safety benefits for cyclists using the proposed route along Neilson Street are also questionable at best.

Unfortunately this logic was lost on the City when it eliminated the use of George Street before the study even started because it did want to loose a handful of on-street parking spaces (I was told this at the public comment sessions for this project several years ago). Considering New Brunswick just built the Morris Street parking deck with 824 spaces and the Rutgers’ Public safety building deck has room for several hundred additional cars, parking on this section of George Street is plentiful. The loss of 20 or so parking spaces in this area should have never been an issue and still could have been minimized with an innovative design.

George Street is the natural, most direct way between the College Avenue and the Cook / Douglas campuses. As such, nearly all those who currently bike between the two campuses already use this most obvious route. As these cyclists ride down George Street, they also have easy and convenient access to downtown New Brunswick with its shops, theaters, restaurants, hotel and government and University buildings. It is not unusual for cyclists to stop at destinations along the downtown section of George Street as they ride between campuses. Unfortunately nearly all of these destinations are avoided by using Neilson Street.

Like many other poorly planned bicycle projects in New Jersey, this one too will get little use. The proposal runs counter to an extremely strong natural demand that cyclists have for using George Street. If built as currently proposed, Neilson Street will continue to be avoided and cyclists will carry on using George Street. Precious government funds will again be wasted and this project’s undoubted failure will only give fuel to critics who (falsely) believe that the government should not be funding bicycle transportation projects. It is a shame that a much needed project that has been in the making for nearly 20 years will be ruined because the needs of hundreds, if not thousands of bicyclists will be marginalized all to save a mere handful of parking spaces.

On top of these concerns I field checked Neilson Street today and as I remembered, much of it is a one-way street. This would make retrograde bicycle travel something new in New Jersey (which Title 39 does not dirrectly address). The new, and very confusing intersection at New and Neilson streets, with its complicated, brand new traffic signal would have to be totally re-engineered to allow for the cyclists to travel west. All of this including, getting cyclists to and from Neilson along Albany Street (NJ Rt 27) will be very expensive and just ends up putting cyclists where they don't want to be.