WBJ Exclusive: Driver charged with Chelsea Traynor's death ran red light

"I can tell you without a doubt that the truck ran the red light. It was a big 4x4 type pickup doing maybe 50mph."  That is what an eyewitness told WalkBikeJersey last week after we ran the story about Roger Hode being charged in the crash that took Chelsea Traynor's life.  Also according to the eye witness "she had the green light and that the truck ran the red light."

When WalkBikeJersey visited the site in December 2010, we looked at the signal timing specifically at how long it took to cross the intersection once the pedestrian signal button was pushed.  With this information it would seem likely that Chelsea took the time to wait until she had the proper signal and the right of way.  This new information makes her death all the more tragic.

Driver who killed Rutgers student charged in 2010 traffic death

The Star-Ledger is reporting that Rodger Hode of South River has been charged with aggravated manslaughter and death by auto in the December 2010 killing of Chelsea Traynor on Route 18 in New Brunswick.  On the morning of December 9, 2010 Traynor was crossing Rt 18 on her bicycle at the southern most intersection of George St when Hode's Ford pickup truck hit and killed her. 


View Bicyclist fatality Rt 18 and George St. 12/9/10 in a larger map

The then 21-year-old Californian Chelsea Traynor, of Concord, California was a sophomore, in the class of 2013, majoring in nutritional science at the university’s School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in New Brunswick, formerly known as Cook College.  She had previously studied at Humboldt State University in California and had recently transferred to Rutgers.

Site of the Traynor crash in December, 2010.

Traynor's death was the second reported bicyclist/pedestrian fatality on the newly renovated New Brunswick section of Rt 18.   The previous fatal crash was in October of 2009 when 15yo George Coleman was struck and killed just north of the George St intersection at Commercial Avenue.  WalkBikeJersey is thankfully unaware of any other pedestrian or bicyclist fatalities along this stretch of highway since Traynor's death.  WalkBikeJersey reverently visited the crash site in only a few days after the tragic events and investigated and photographed the facilities as they were at that time.

Our hearts at WalkBikeJersey reach out to the Traynor family and hope that justice carried out in her case.

Bloustein students proposed bicycle network and other ideas for Rutgers / New Brunswick

What might a bicycle network look like for Rutgers University and the City of New Brunswick look like? Graduate students at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy took on this question as part of Prof. John Pucher’s, Biking and Walking for Sustainable Cities Class. Students took a look at a number of issues including, bike share, turning Rutgers into a Bicycle Friendly University, a community bicycle center like Recycle-A-Bicycle and Second Life Bikes to name a few.

The other presentations I saw talked about:

• How to motivate people to walk and bike more, 
• Redesigning Livingston Ave (a primary access route to New Brunswick from the south),
• A look at the safety improvements and controversy with the Prospect Park West Cycletrack

Included below are several images of the one major presentation that investigated a New Brunswick bicycle network designed to maximize the connectivity between university campuses while connecting to the French Street commercial corridor (Note: I give the students credit for trying some innovative bike lane treatments however I must say that I do have some concerns with the finer points of some of the design treatments).  For those mega bike wonks there is a link to video of the presentation (webinare style) but I don't have that link available as I publish.

 

Advocacy works! New Brunswick reworks bike sidewalk ban.

If you've been reading this blog you would know that the City of New Brunswick was looking to reinstate a 118 year old ban on cycling on all sidewalks in the city regardless of the cyclists age.  In our original November 2nd post, we looked at the likely origins of the original 1893 bicycle sidewalk ban, how a new ordinance could be better tweaked and questioned why adults were riding on the sidewalk in the first place.  Well at the November 2nd meeting, I was able to give some feedback to the City Council and was quite impressed at how well received my comments were to the Mayor and Council.

However, when I went to the next Council Meeting on November 16th, I was almost shocked into disbelief.  Not because, the Mayor and Council ignored my suggestions but because they took nearly all of them to heart and rewrote their proposed ordinance to take into account almost all of my feedback.  Way to go New Brunswick!!

Now I can't take total credit for this.  Far from it.  Somewhat unknown to me at the time, students from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public policy, namely those in Walk Bloustein, Bike Bloustein had also been talking to the Mayor, Council and most importantly, Planning Director, Glenn Paterson who was actually drafting the ordinance.

Below are photos of the draft ordinance (no pdf or other text document was made available).  Reading the text you can see that their is great improvement from the first proposal of November 2nd.  However, this is still far from a final draft.  Planning Director, Glenn Paterson shared with me a totally reworked draft that went much further.  I felt that some items in that proposal were redundant with New Jersey state law but others were absolutely superb in that they afforded legal protections from careless motor vehicle drivers not yet provided by New Jersey Title 39, namely protections from left and right hooks, careless doorings, illegal parking and even a 3-foot provision.  Unbelievably good stuff!!

After this, can't wait to see what the City will have drafted for tomorrow's meeting - December 7th at 6:30pm.

November 16th Draft Ordinance - Page 1

November 16th Draft Ordinance - Page 2

New Brunswick Bikeway delayed due to utilities

Cyclists in New Brunswick demanding an answer for the delays in the long anticipated (20+ years) New Brunswick Bikeway finally have a reason.  At last week's Middlesex County Transportation Coordinating Committee meeting, representatives from Middlesex County said that several utility companies have been slow to sign off on the project and that this has been the cause of the delays.  Without cross acceptance from the utilities, the project, which requires extensive road alterations in places, cannot be added to the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for funding.

Seen Above, NJ Rt 27 will require significant alterations to accommodate the bikeway and is the location of greatest concern for the utility companies.  

Middlesex County officials assured those in attendance that the project has not been canceled or permanently delayed and that once the utilities sign off on the project that it would be added to the TIP for funding.  Officials also said that the county had already made a significant financial investment in the project and are determined to see it through.

ADVOCACY ALERT: New Brunswick to discuss bicycle ordinance tomorrow

At the New Brunswick City Council meeting two weeks ago the Council decided to postpone their discussion of the proposed bicycle sidewalk ban ordinance till their next meeting which will be tomorrow November 16th at 6:30pm.  At the November 2nd meeting photocopies of the ordinance were presented to all attendees (see photos below).  As written, the draft ordinance would ban all cyclists from most city sidewalks regardless of age.  There was some consideration to allow cyclists to use "multi-use sidewalks" on NJ Route 18 and on several other roadways.  However in addition to the sidewalk ban, Section III, Paragraph B of the draft ordinance would ban cyclist from riding two abreast regardless if motor traffic is obstructed or not.  This is part is most disturbing because New Jersey Statute 39:4-14.2. Keeping to right; exceptions; single file grants cyclists the right to "travel no more than two abreast when traffic is not impeded."

During the public comment period at the end of the November 2nd council meeting, I addressed my concerns with the ordinance as drafted and provided some historical background and the state of cycling in 1893 when the original city ordinance banning cycling on the sidewalks was written.  From there I told the council that I was glad to see that the draft ordinance considered the needs of cyclists who use the sidewalks on Rt 18 and several other locations.  I suggested that the sidewalk ban not apply to children under the age of 14 and that it should also NOT apply to to sidewalks that are on Rutgers University property that are also not immediately adjacent to city roadways (ie. in quads and on campus between other buildings).  I did suggested to the council that a sidewalk bicycle ban was very appropriate, regardless of the age of the cyclist, in the central business district and in other select sections of the city that see constant pedestrian traffic day and night.  However I felt that the sidewalk ban was totally unnecessary on most residential streets elsewhere in New Brunswick.  I also addressed the issue of the draft ordinance's complete ban on riding two abreast which restricts the right to do so granted to cyclists in New Jersey Statute 39:4-14.2.   I wondered aloud if the city could restrict a right granted by the state and let them know that my understanding was that they could not.

Finally, I asked the council to consider why cyclists feel the need to ride on the sidewalks in the city in the first place.  Such behavior is typical when there is a dangerous on-street bicycling environment, or at least a perception that the street is a dangerous place to ride.  I told the New Brunswick City Council that the best way to solve the problem of cyclists riding on the sidewalks was to provide cyclists a place to ride in the street.  I was blunt to the Mayor and Council that New Brunswick was way behind peer university towns all across the nation that have done much, much more to accommodate cyclists.

In closing I told the Council that they could call on my expert opinion on this and other future bicycle issues in New Brunswick.  I also reminded them that some of the worlds leading experts regarding bicycle and pedestrian issues are literally a stones throw away from City Hall at the Bloustein School, namely Prof. John Pucher and the staff at the New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center which is part of the Voorhees Transportation Center.

Photos of the draft New Brunswick City Ordinance that would ban all cyclists from city sidewalks are below.  Click on each and enlarged to read each page.

ADVOCACY ALERT: New Brunswick to discuss reinstating 118yo bicycle ban

The large, imposing and dangerous Penny-
farthing was still popular when the
original New Brunswick bicycle sidewalk
ban was put into place.

Tomorrow at 6:30pm the New Brunswick City Council will discuss the possible reintroduction of an 1893 city ordinance that would ban ALL cyclists from riding on ALL city sidewalks regardless of age.  According to a September 23rd article in the Rutgers University Daily Targum, the Victorian Age city ordinance was accidentally repealed last year (sorry but I could not find the language of the old ordinance or the proposed reintroduced ordinance O-091101).

When the ordinance was originally passed in 1893, almost all bicyclist were adults and were often called "scorchers" as they were often the fasting things on the roadways (see bottom of page 3).  The large imposing and dangerous penny-farthing was still the bicycle of choice.  Roadways were often made of dirt even in cities and most importantly, the modern traffic laws that we take for granted today were still many decades from being developed.  When one considers this, the law in its time made total sense.  But that was over 100 years ago and the law is clearly antiquated today at least in its old form.

While we at WalkBikeJersey do not usually advocate that adults ride on the sidewalk, there are some situations where it might be okay and even appropriate.  Children under 15 (give or take a year) should be allowed to ride on most city sidewalks.  NJ Route 18 in New Brunswick was recently rebuilt with wide sidewalks for bicyclists to share with pedestrians.  Reinstating the old ordinance would seem to require cyclists to ride in the highway with high-speed traffic where there is often no shoulder.  And yes, we've all ridden down the sidewalk a little bit to get a little closer to our final destination.  As long as this sidewalk riding is done with discretion, care and caution for pedestrians and traffic at intersections, all should be okay.

However, it is also appropriate to ban cyclists from certain sidewalks.  New Brunswick being a city, has a busy downtown with sidewalks that are packed with pedestrians most hours of the day and night.  It is never appropriate for cyclists to ride on sidewalks that are full of pedestrians.  In the central business district even children should refrain from sidewalk riding and walk there bikes.

Yet, the question that should be asked (and often isn't) is, "Why do adults insist on riding their bikes on the sidewalk in the first place?"  Well, the reality is that many adult cyclists have been literally scared off the roads due to poor roadway engineering, careless and sometimes reckless drivers and a long, pervasive, popular but false belief that bicyclists simply don't belong on the roadway that was "built for cars."

If New Brunswick would really like to reduce dangerous bicycle riding on sidewalks, it needs to begin providing well engineered on-road bicycle amenities that have been proven exceptionally effective in towns and cities all across the country for many decades.  Being a college town, New Brunswick is unfortunately, way behind most of its peer college cities in providing appropriate bicycle amenities.

If you would like to attend the meeting to voice your opinion about this ordinance and help begin a constructive dialog with the New Brunswick City Council to provide well engineered on-road bicycle amenities all throughout the city (and not just between college campuses), please attend the New Brunswick City Council Meeting on Wednesday at 6:30pm.  The meeting will be held in the New Brunswick City Hall, located at 78 Bayard Street in the Council Chambers on the second floor.

Cyclist killed in New Brunswick crash ID'd as California woman - Updated with photos of intersection

The Star-Ledger reported on Saturday that the woman killed in a crash on Rt 18 at Georges Rd in New Brunswick was 21-year-old Californian Chelsea Traynor, of Concord, California. Traynor was a sophomore, in the class of 2013, majoring in nutritional science at the university’s School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in New Brunswick, formerly known as Cook College. As of Saturday, no charges were filed against the driver.

Since the Google Streetsview imagery was outdated for this newer intersection I went out and visited the location, took some pictures so I and our readers could get a better understanding of the place and what could have happened to Chelsea Traynot. I went through the crosswalk to cross the northbound local lanes of Rt 18. Going over to the riverside it took exactly one minute to get the walk signal. Upon my return in took only 20 seconds. It also appeared that when traffic turning left from George Stgot the green light, all traffic on the northbound local lanes also came to a halt. I did not observe the operation of the light well enough to say that this was the case with 100% certainty.

It was rather somber to go to a place where someone had lost their life not even a week earlier and I took these pictures and show them here with the greatest reverence to the deceased.

Traffic turning left onto Rt 18 in the foreground. The green signal for these
drivers seemed to bring all Rt 18 traffic to a halt seen in background.A view of the approach to the intersection with George St.
A view of the approach to the intersection but further south along the highway.
Note the posted speed limit.

Rt 18 claims life of Rutgers student crossing on bike

MyCentralJersey.com and several other news organizations are reporting the death of a 21 female Rutgers Student 11:10 a.m Thursday morning who was crossing the local lanes of the highway with her bicycle at Georges Rd near the Cook and Douglas Campuses. This is the second fatality of a person crossing the northbound local lanes of Rt. 18 in New Brunswick. The previous fatal crash was in October of 2009 when 15yo George Coleman was struck and killed just north of the George St intersection at Commercial Avenue.


View Bicyclist fatality Rt 18 and George St. 12/9/10 in a larger map

We at WalkBikeJersey send our condolences to the unnamed victims family.

The New Brunswick Bikeway – Much more than bike lanes

Last week at the November Middlesex County Transportation Coordinating Committee Meeting it was announced that the New Brunswick Bikeway was in final engineering design and that the project was or would soon be put out to bid. The project would build 1.9 miles of bike lanes from the intersection of Lafayette St and College Ave near the Route 18 John Lynch Bridge at its western terminus, to George Street and Bishop Street at the edge of the Douglas Campus to the east. From Lafayette Street, the bikeway would run on College Ave to Huntington St, then down George St to Albany St (NJ Rt 27). At Albany there would be a spur that will run south to the train station while the main route would head north to Neilson St. Then the bikeway would head east along the entire length of Neilson St to Bishop St were it will turn right for a few hundred feet back to George St.

Overview diagram of the eastern portion of the New Brunswick Bikeway.
Access to diagrams and report courtesy of the Middlesex County Planning Department.

As part of the construction of the bikeway, every street the project impacts will be repaved, intersections will be updated to comply with ADA standards, traffic signals will be redesign and retimed with new hardware if necessary, the median along Albany street will be narrowed and realigned in places, and bicycle racks will be installed in select locations. As this project does much more than simply paint lines on the roadway, $7.1 million has been allocated to fund the construction of the project.

Overview diagram of the western portion of the New Brunswick Bikeway.
Access to diagrams and report courtesy of the Middlesex County Planning Department.

While this blog has been critical of this project in the past, having looked at the final layout and gaining a better understand what the project entails, makes us feel more comfortable with what the project will give New Brunswick cyclists. While the project regrettably still reroutes cyclists away from the core of New Brunswick’s downtown, it does contain much that will benefit cyclists. The bike lanes along Albany St from Neilson to the train station will aid those living Highland Park reach the station. The bike lane along the length of George St west of Albany is a perfect route for cyclists between parts of the College Ave Campus and downtown. And while Neilson St might not be the most ideal route for cyclists traveling between the College Ave and Cook/Douglas Campuses, the bike lanes along this street will make it easier for cyclists coming from Highland Park to get to the Cook/Douglas Campus as well as some destinations downtown.

Detail diagram of the major intersections along the New Brunswick Bikeway.
Access to diagrams and report courtesy of the Middlesex County Planning Department.

What is also really interesting is that the New Brunswick Bikeway will also have the first modern, on-street, contra-flow bike lanes in New Jersey, at least that WalkBikeJersey is aware of. These lanes would be located on Neilson and Bishop Streets and look fairly well though out. The one area where the contra-flow lane leaves us with some concern is in a small area on Neilson St where cars facing the opposite direction of the contra-flow bike traffic would park between the contra-flow lane and the curb. Despite this minor concern, these contra-flow bike lanes will serve as an example in New Jersey of this type of unique bicycle facility. If they work well here (as I believe they will as contra-flow bike lanes are common in Europe and in some locations in the US) then other places in New Jersey will be more likely to build them in their own towns to better and more conveniently serve cyclists where needed.