April 25,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Almost two years later the “Traffic Easing “project continues to appear ,”very ill-conceived, and frankly, dangerous”. When this project was initially hatched a project no one in town including some very long term residents had ever heard of until ground was basically broken.
“The only time in recent memory that I almost got hit was in this intersection and that was after the bike lanes were added ,narrowing the driving lanes to one each way. Someone tried and succeeded to pass me on the left as I was heading from the west side under the bridge. Now people are so used to no bikes in the bike lanes that the cars are actually using them to some degree. I do feel the bike lanes are dangerous to bikers and have made navigating this area more difficult. So, I don!t blame anybody for this recent accident but I do think Garber Square is an “accident waiting to happen.”
The Village Manager created a far larger traffic head ache with her “very ill-conceived, and frankly, dangerous” design. To make matter worse the Village manger placed a Village Digital sign in the vicinity to further distract , distracted drivers .
The “traffic easing” has also limited access for Emergency services vehicles , now the potential may be made worse by an over sized garage on Hudson street further restricting traffic patterns , What a mess Roberta !
Two years. I’m still waiting to see my first cyclist using the bike lanes.
I, too, have never seen a cyclist use the lanes. And I do find that sign a distraction when driving through that intersection.
The bike lanes in this area are ridiculous and were never needed, it also seems that the village manager is in the same position. Maybe she can ride a bike from nowhere to nowhere.
This bike lane was not put in to service cyclists… rather, as the name implies, it was created to impede motor vehicles and deter driving.
Traffic easing (actually “traffic calming”) is part of “Agenda 21” (look it up).
Its overarching goal is for government to take control of all land use away from individuals to better serve the community needs. Essentially it assumes that all people are ignorant and poor stewards and need to be manipulated into “doing the right thing”. Aside from removing automobiles it wants to push all people into clusters of habitation (self sustaining cities).
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BTW, the High Density Housing is also part of this agenda.
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Ironically, push to build a massive garage is testament to the fact that a) this agenda is rooted in a failed concept and b) the RW council agrees that it is a failed concept.
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You can look this up all over the internet. And for those who think opposition to Agenda 21 is a right wing conspiracy theory, take a look at the web site “Democrats against Agenda 21”
LINK:
https://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/
Here’s an excerpt:
“Bikes. What does that have to do with it? I like to ride my bike and so do you. So what? Bicycle advocacy groups are very powerful now. Advocacy. A fancy word for lobbying, influencing, and maybe strong-arming the public and politicians. What’s the conection with bike groups? National groups such as Complete Streets, Thunderhead Alliance, and others, have training programs teaching their members how to pressure for redevelopment, and training candidates for office. It’s not just about bike lanes, it’s about remaking cities and rural areas to the ‘sustainable model’. High density urban development without parking for cars is the goal. This means that whole towns need to be demolished and rebuilt in the image of sustainable development. Bike groups are being used as the ‘shock troops’ for this plan.”
– See more at: https://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/#sthash.NFFK9Do0.dpuf
I don’t think people were “doing the wrong thing” (or speeding–that sharp curve stops you) when they used both lanes in both directions. In fact, two were often not enough; one lane is absurd. I predicted at the time and I repeat that I believe the whole thing will eventually be ripped out at our expense and the two lanes restored. It is the only reasonable solution. I hope no one has to be hurt or killed to inspire that change.
I’ve seen 2 bikes. One was going west to east in the eastbound lane. No problem there. The second was going east to west in the eastbound lane WALKING their bike.
During the same time, I have seen many traffic tie-ups usually west-to-east with cars lined up W Ridgewood Ave and Godwin. The new sign and the double black pilings by the pedestrian crosswalk are confusing distractions that divert the driver’s attention and hide the pedestrians rather than protect them.
That stupid costly unsightly distracting sign was supposed to be used for emergencies. Shop and Dine in Ridgewwod??? Big emergency.
“Shop and Dine in Ridgewood”? Does anyone really think that even one single person has “decided” to shop or dine in Ridgewood because they saw this sign?
Queen Bee will be Easing out of a job soon.Here is one for you Roberta Be careful of the people you step on as your climbing that latter became you are going to meet those same people on your way down.
If you have a valid drivers license then you should know that you are not to change lanes when there is a solid line. The bike lane has a solid line around it until you approach the intersections. Please, before you complain, check the traffic rules. Perhaps it’s the Ridgewood Police you should be going after. Where are they??????? I never see them stopping people for traffic violations. Hello???? Where are you police officers??????
12:55, yes, I was on my way to the Four Seasons but when I saw that sign I canceled my reservation (texting while driving, of course–look out for all the bikes!) and went to the Daily Treat instead. Not.
I will hold my opinion on bike lanes until Mr. Halaby gives his verdict. I love the sign as it makes me realize that there is no need to dine anywhere else in the world. Roberta is one smart manager. I wonder where she will take her talents once she leaves Ridgewood.
11 58 is right
They placed flat steel sheet traffic signs at PED,head height street side of pedestrians area who happen to be stepping off of that mid street pedestrian island right in front of left turning cars and trucks ..bad design
False sence of security by pedestrians ..left turning cars are waiting so once they see a slot they plow into that left turn to beat the light and get in front of exiting train traffic mostly who are making that fast right down into town..competing for that same single Lane.
Merchants foolishly announcing thru signs ( all the same design) their support for Garage option D Candidates for Mayor outside of their stores….easy to Isolate those merchants who might want to rethink that exposure.Paulys going down with that sinking ship.
The bike lanes were purely a liberal money grab.
RW received Ferderal/State funds(which is stil our tax money)because “bike lanes” were added.
Government out of control…
I bought a bagel because of that sign. I wanted to go to Bagelicious, but because of the traffic trying to get under the tracks, I ended up driving to Midland Park and picked one up there……..and they had parking!
I drive that bike lane road everyday to and from work – its ridiculous. The sign adds to the cluster, I will never read it cause I don’t want to take my eyes off the road for a minute- and btw I have never seen a biker either
It is so incredibly tacky . . .I am glad i pay high taxes for this sort of non-sense.
the sign is not permissible per village ordinance. was a permit pulled? was a zoning review performed? these questions need to be asked!!!