The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Ridgewood NJ, here are some recent quotes from Ridgewood Mayor Paul Vagianos regarding the planned sidewalk installation project on Clinton Avenue.:
Continue reading FUN FACT: In Ridgewood Having friends in high places can prove to be handy at times
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Ridgewood NJ, NJ Administrative Code Section 16:47 – 3.8 establishes a minimum width of 24 feet for residential streets.
file photos courtesy of Boyd A. Loving
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Ridgewood NJ, Village Council members will reportedly discuss the longstanding pedestrian safety issues on Clinton Avenue during their scheduled February 7th Work Session. The safety issues are related to school children walking in the street on their way to and from the nearby Ridge Elementary School. Currently, there are no public sidewalks on Clinton Avenue.
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Ridgewood NJ, a Winter Storm Warning is in effect from 7:00 pm Friday – 7:00 pm Saturday for Bergen County. Snow totals may change, based on the track of the storm. The possible accumulation is 5-10 inches of snow or more, along with gusty winds. Strong winds have the potential to cause power outages and network damage that could impact power, internet, TV and phone service.
file photo by Boyd Loving
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Ridgewood NJ, If it is snowing or going to snow overnight, please do not park your vehicles on the streets, in order to allow our plows to do their work in clearing the snow. All sidewalks in residential districts must be cleared within 24 hours of the snow falling. Please do not place snow into the street; instead, place it back onto your own property. In addition, if you have a fire hydrant on your property, please clear it of any snow accumulation.
Continue reading VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD REMINDERS ABOUT SNOW REMOVAL
Go visit Glen Rock and compare driver behavior with what you see in Ridgewood. Ridgewood has a car culture problem and a road design problem. Almost all drivers in Glen Rock respect the pedestrian crossings. Few Ridgewood drivers stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks or those waiting to cross. Oddly enough, more drivers stop for me when I am walking my dog than when I am walking alone or with my wife. The same is true for kids. Too many drivers ignore children on their way to and from school, which is very dangerous, especially when students try to cross Linwood or Glen (other streets could just as well be added, but I am less familiar with the problems there).
The pedestrian crossings in Glen Rock are clearly marked (unlike Ridgewood’s). The main street in Glen Rock is also wider than Ridgewood Ave, with narrower sidewalks. The wider streets give drivers better visibility. That said, the attitudes of drivers in Ridgewood is very different than that in Glen Rock. We have a cultural difference between superficially similar towns.
July 30,2016
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Ridgewood NJ , before you plant better get the facts Ridgewood has some strict controls over planting trees and shrubs near sidewalks and roadways, especially at intersections .
A.
Pursuant to the authority contained in N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.26 et seq., the owner or tenant of any land or premises within the Village, wherever necessary and expedient for the preservation of the public safety, shall keep all brush, hedges and other plant life growing within 10 feet of any roadway and within 25 feet of the intersection of two roadways cut to a height of not more than 2 1/2 feet, within 10 days after written notice sent to the last known post office address of such owner or tenant, by registered mail, to cut the same.
B.
The aforesaid notice shall be sent by the Director of Department of Building and Inspections, his agent or deputy and shall require the cutting of all such brush, hedges or other plant life and shall set forth the reasons therefor and provide an opportunity to such owner or tenant, within five days of the receipt of such notice, to show cause before the officer sending such notice why the demands therein should not be complied with.
§ 260-2Failure to comply with notice.
A.
In case any owner or tenant fails or neglects to show cause why such cutting should not be done after proper notice as hereinabove set forth or cut the same within 10 days as therein provided, the Director of the Department of Building and Inspections, his agent or deputy may, on behalf of the Village, cause such brush, hedges and other plant life to be cut.
B.
In every case in which, by force of § 260-1 and this section, the cutting of the foregoing by reason of the refusal or neglect of the tenant or owner to cut the same is done under the direction of the Director of the Department of Building and Inspections, his agent or deputy, the cost thereof shall be certified to the Village Council, which Council shall examine the certificate of cost and, if found correct, shall cause the same, as shown thereon, to be charged against said lands or, in the event that such cost is excessive, shall cause the reasonable cost thereof to be charged against such lands, and the amount so charged shall forthwith become a lien upon such lands and shall be added to and become and form part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon such lands, the same to bear interest at the same rate as other taxes and to be collected and enforced by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
Ridgewood NJ, Per section 249-1 of the Village Code, all snow and/or ice must be removed from sidewalks abutting Village streets within 24 hours after a snow storm has ended. And, the snow and/or ice that you do remove may not be placed in the street so as to impede the flow of traffic.
Based on the enforcement efforts VIllage Manager Roberta Sonenfeld directed toward compliance of the Village’s leaf removal regulations, I suspect the same level of enforcement, or greater, to be directed at compliance of Village snow and ice removal regulations.
And if you don’t think that someone at Village Hall is closely watching the properties of those us who speak out against them, just knock on some doors in the neighborhood surrounding the Irene Habernickel Family Park and ask what happened to some of the TAXPAYERS up there who spoke out publicly against the plan to house HealthBarn USA at 1057 Hillcrest Road.
Remember folks, “Somebody’s going to pay for that.” (Although, it was not meant as a threat.)
August 31,2015
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Ridgewood NJ, Yes. Believe it or not, the crybabies on Clinton Avenue got their way again.
The street was recently repaved, but without the concrete curbs and concrete driveway cuts that were promised.
Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser had told Village Council members concrete curbs and driveway cuts would be including in the repaving project so that the street would be “sidewalk ready.”
Reportedly, residents on the street did not want the concrete and told the Village Manager so.
And so it goes
MAY 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015, 9:50 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The issue of sidewalks, and lack thereof, on Clinton Avenue returned to the Ridgewood Council on May 6 as residents came forward to voice their opinion on that issue, as well as the safety concerns held by parents whose children walk to Ridge School.
In February, the council approved a resolution for Clinton Avenue improvements, which included paving, but not installation of sidewalks as recommended by the Citizen Safety Advisory Committee (CSAC).
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen said the topic was put on for discussion at last Wednesday’s work session for residents who believed they were not a part of the process because they were not aware of when CSAC was discussing Clinton Avenue.
Many of those who did come forward last week noted that the lack of sidewalks on Clinton, as well as other nearby streets, is part of a larger safety issue surrounding Ridge School.
Anastasia Bamberg, who lives on Melrose Place, said the village is missing an opportunity to install sidewalks, but believes the street should remain closed to traffic during the day.
“I think Clinton Avenue is a great example of closing the street and I’d like to close more streets in Ridgewood to get kids to school and not have as much traffic,” she said. “I understand that the residents object to sidewalks, but I think they’re objecting because they think it will be opened to traffic.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/safety-concerns-near-ridge-school-prompt-new-talks-1.1331339
Ridgewood street should have sidewalks
February 6, 2015 Last updated: Friday, February 6, 2015, 12:31 AM
The Ridgewood News
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Clinton Ave. should have sidewalks
To the Editor:
Clinton Avenue, which connects Godwin and West Ridgewood avenues, does not currently have any sidewalks. The street is closed to through vehicular traffic from 8 a.m. through 3:45 p.m. on school days. Nevertheless, some vehicles are permitted to travel on the block even during those hours, alongside children and their parents who are in the street walking to and from school. At all other times, the street is open, with people having to share the road with traffic. Clinton Avenue is a not a quiet, dead-end street on which the possibility of a car passing a pedestrian is unlikely.
The subject of whether to install sidewalks on Clinton Avenue in conjunction with a planned repaving project was discussed by Village Council members during their work session of Jan. 28 and in November 2014. Councilman Michael Sedon reported that the Citizens’ Safety Advisory Committee supports repaving Clinton Avenue without installing sidewalks, as does the Ridge Home and School Association. However, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld stated that Police Chief John Ward, Sgt. Brian Pullman and Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser all deem that sidewalks on Clinton Avenue would be safer than not having sidewalks.
During the Jan. 28 Village Council work session, numerous residents of Clinton Avenue offered their unequivocal opinions that the street is safe for pedestrians in spite of the fact that there are no sidewalks. They justified their stance by stating there is no history of pedestrian-involved traffic accidents on the block; this argument is flawed. As Councilwoman Susan Knudsen stated, lack of any accident is not a reasonable defense for continuing to allow residents (at times, “a parade of children,” as one resident characterized it) to walk in the street alongside vehicles, including trucks.
We can all be immensely grateful that no accident has occurred, but everyone knows that accidents happen without notice. A collision between a vehicle and a human being (especially a child) can reasonably be expected to be injurious, if not fatal. While we all encounter hazards each day as we move through our lives, many of which are unpredictable and unavoidable, we must do the best we can to protect one another from harm. It cannot be emphasized enough that everything possible should be done to prevent vehicle vs. pedestrian accidents, of which there have been too many in Ridgewood within the last few years. We need to do whatever is practical and reasonable to prevent any more from occurring.
Clinton Avenue residents also expressed concerns about how the installation of sidewalks would change their properties, plantings, and driveways. Front lawns on streets without sidewalks have the same right-of-way easement as those with sidewalks. In other words, the few feet encompassed by the width of a sidewalk do not belong to the homeowner, even though property owners are expected to maintain this strip.
It is my hope that the Village Council will decide for the safety of our residents by heeding the advice of the aforementioned experts and approving a sidewalk for Clinton Avenue.
Anne LaGrange Loving
Ridgewood
file photo Boyd Loving
Reader Says Incomplete streets put people at risk
Streets without safe places to walk, cross, catch a bus, or bicycle put people at risk. Over 5,000 pedestrians and bicyclists died on U.S. roads in 2008, and more than 120,000 were injured. Pedestrian crashes are more than twice as likely to occur in places without sidewalks; streets with sidewalks on both sides have the fewest crashes. While the absolute numbers of bicyclists and pedestrians killed has been in decline for the decade, experts attribute this in part to a decline in the total number of people bicycling and walking.
Annually, around 4,500 pedestrians are killed in traffic crashes with motor vehicles in the United States.1 Pedestrians killed while “walking along the roadway” account for almost 8 percent of these deaths.2 Many of these tragedies are preventable. Providing walkways separated from the travel lanes could help to prevent up to 88 percent of these “walking along roadway crashes.”
Walkways can be created either by providing stabilized or paved surfaces separated from the roadway, or by widening paved shoulders. These treatments can not only improve the safety of pedestrians, but also make pedestrian trips more viable.
Benefits of Sidewalks
Sidewalks separated from the roadway are the preferred accommodation for pedestrians. Sidewalks provide many benefits including safety, mobility, and healthier communities.
In addition to reducing walking along roadway crashes, sidewalks reduce other pedestrian crashes. Roadways without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to have pedestrian crashes as sites with sidewalks on both sides of the street.
file photo Boyd Loving
Street near Ridge school won’t get sidewalks
FEBRUARY 5, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD
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RIDGEWOOD — The village will not install sidewalks along Clinton Avenue, a street traversed daily by hundreds of children who attend classes at the Ridge Elementary School.
The council largely agreed last week that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent adding sidewalks to a road that is already among the village’s safest.
Police officials and Ridgewood’s engineer had endorsed the sidewalk work during an upcoming repaving of Clinton Avenue.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/street-near-ridgewood-school-won-t-get-sidewalks-1.1265120
Clinton Avenue update – Council postpones formal vote on sidewalks
November 13,2014
Boyd A. Loving
10:11 PM
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Village Council postponed their formal vote on authorizing the resurfacing of Clinton Avenue, which was scheduled to take place at Wednesday’s (11/12) Public Meeting. The resurfacing plan scheduled for vote excluded the installation of sidewalks. Sidewalk installation was strongly recommended by the Village’s police and engineering departments, however property owners on Clinton have vehemently opposed their installation.
Two (2) Clinton Avenue residents spoke during Wednesday evening’s meeting. Both expressed concerns over drops in property values and increased traffic/parking that would likely accompany installation of sidewalks. One (1) resident stated that in her opinion, the street is much safer without sidewalks, despite the fact that groups of children walking to and from the nearby Ridge Elementary School must now walk in the street there (Clinton is closed, by local ordinance, to through traffic on school days between 8 AM and 3:45 PM – portable “Do Not Enter” signs are placed at both ends of the street to discourage through traffic flow).
Mayor Paul Aronsohn stated that the Council was postponing their formal vote because Councilwoman Susan Knudsen was absent during the Work Session at which the plan was discussed, and the issue wasn’t time sensitive. Councilwoman Knudsen said she wanted a further review of the situation by Citizens Safety Advisory Committee members as well as additional input from members of the Village’s professional staff.
No date was established for the rescheduled formal vote.
photo by Boyd Loving
Ridgewood street needs sidewalks
Boyd A. Loving
As evidenced by the recent tragic incident in nearby Hawthorne (where an individual allegedly driving under the influence of an inhalant struck and killed an adult pedestrian walking on a street that was officially closed to traffic), a driver could disregard posted “Do Not Enter” signs and barrel down Clinton Avenue at the wrong time.
