Rt 130 Conditions

I received the message below on Tuesday and have removed Rebecca's last name and her address from the message.

Thanks Rebecca,

The Edgewater Park Reporter

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Becky To: edgewaterparkreporter@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 10:10:25 AM
Subject: (no subject)

May 20^th 2008

Attention Local, State and Corporate Leaders;

RE: Intersection of State Highway Route 130 and Levitt Parkway in Burlington county

As a driver who uses this intersection several times a day, I would like to bring your attention to the area of Burlington County along the Route 130 corridor that includes Willingboro Town Square and the Edgewater Park businesses across the highway.

Although the work that is being done on the Willingboro side of Highway 130 is remarkable, there continues to exist some very dangerous traffic and pedestrian situations. I would strongly suggest that the following need to be addressed immediately.

1. The New Jersey Transit bus stop is in an awkward spot. The road is narrow and does not allow for more than one bus to pass or park or pull over without blocking traffic. It is dangerous for people exiting and entering the buses.
2. Sidewalks and crosswalks are not existent leading to or away from the bus top and the stop is hidden from Route 130 traffic. Pedestrians exiting the bus do not have easy access to the BCC campus, the CVS , the Commerce Bank, or any of the other shops or businesses in the complex without walking through a grass median and or crossing the narrow highly trafficked lane. This is always dangerous but especially so during inclement weather.
3. The bus stop itself is a very small concrete pad with little signage and no sidewalks, not sufficient for passengers for one bus let alone the several Burlinks and NJ Transit buses that stop there.
4. Crossing Route 130 is dangerous but especially when there are not any pedestrian signs, crosswalks or pedestrian crossing lights. At the intersection of Route 130, Levitt Parkway and Woodlane Road , the traffic is never stopped for pedestrians; there isn't a button or a light telling people when to cross. This really doesn't make sense considering the number of people living in the cluster units on the Edgwater Park side. Access for crossing Levitt Parkway to the Bank of America or Woodlane Road from the Apartments to the Pathmark is also the same situation.
5. The turning lanes on Woodlane road are not clearly marked.
6. The turning lanes on Levitt Parkway entering the intersection are a free for all.. There does not exist any marking for the lanes, people in the center lane may go straight or turn left there is no way of knowing which, Also cars exiting on the jug handle have great difficulty knowing what lane they need to be in because nothing is marked. If you have 2 lanes turning left, there should be signage stating so. I won't even go into the craziness of 3 lanes going into one as the cars enter Woodlane

In conclusion: I believe that if possible you need to work together as town officials, DOT, NJ Transit and the property owners to come up with a solution to the dangerous situation for pedestrians. Presently you have shoppers, commuters, college students, and diners, soon you will have high school students and even more consumers as well as additional office workers, you need to provide them with safe transit from property to property as pedestrians and passengers.

Solutions:

1. Move the bus stop. There are several other places the buses could stop, inside the parking lots or less traveled lanes, but it really should be visible from 130 or have a large sign and not blocking a main access road.
2. Sidewalks at all businesses, especially from Commerce Bank and Acme to the Taco Bell, no one should ever have to walk in the traffic lane or on the grass. Crosswalks and roads with speed bumps should have signs saying, stop for pedestrians.
3. Make the bus stop larger with more seating and sidewalks leading to it.
4. There really should exist a walk over on this particular intersection of Route 130, but in the absence of that, the traffic should be stopped by the push of a pedestrian button and there should be crosswalks should be clearly marked. Traffic should not make a right on the light where pedestrians are crossing.
5. Mark the traffic lanes!!!! Make this a user friendly intersection!

If you cannot help solve these problems please refer this letter to someone who can solve it before the situation gets worse!

Sincerely,

Rebecca

Beverly , NJ 08010

CC: Willingboro City Officials

Edgewater Park City Officials

CVS

Commerce Bank

Taco Bell

Starbucks

Ruby Tuesdays

Burlington County College

Acme

NJ State Dept. of Transportation

NJ Transit

Burlington County Freeholders

Burlington County Transportation

---

Stay informed, get connected and more