For many of us, learning how to ride a bike was a rite of passage. Being able to ride to school, the store or even just down the block represented a new degree of freedom and personal mobility (it just so happened to also be very good exercise). Although many Americans still have this [...]
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A national complete streets law would help address dangerous roads for walking, such as southern NJ's Black Horse Pike. Throughout the nation, we are living with the legacy of outdated roads, many of which can be downright hostile to those who travel them. For more than half a century, our infrastructure has been [...] The design of the wide, fast Black Horse Pike makes it dangerous for walking. This is compounded by a lack of pedestrian infrastructure and walking-friendly development in the corridor. Recently, MTR walked Atlantic County’s Black Horse Pike, in southern New Jersey, to explore and document the conditions that make this road particularly dangerous [...] As MTR has reported extensively, Black Horse Pike (US-322/40) in Atlantic County, continues to be one of the most dangerous roads in the state of New Jersey. With little in the way of pedestrian infrastructure, fast moving automobile traffic and retail sites that lining the roadway, Black Horse Pike, is precisely the type of suburban ”arterial” road that tends to be particularly dangerous for non-drivers. Year after year, pedestrians are killed in alarming numbers while walking along or attempting to cross this roadway. In fact, due to the extremely high number of pedestrian fatalities, NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson has pledged to personally inspect Black Horse Pike in the coming days. There is a significant residential population within walking distance of Black Horse Pike (particularly in Pleasantville and Egg Harbor Township). Ideally, these residents would be able to safely access area businesses and local bus stops on foot, but the pike’s current design presents them with a number of major obstacles. Wanting to better understand the conditions that these and other pedestrians face, I visited Black Horse Pike in Atlantic City, Pleasantville and Egg Harbor Township and documented what I discovered. The following photographs illustrate the hazards, inconveniences and the, quite frankly, shocking conditions that I encountered while walking the Black Horse Pike. Atlantic CityBlack Horse Pike (known briefly here as Albany Avenue) begins its westward crawl across the Garden State in Atlantic City. I began my journey on a fairly wide sidewalk about a mile from the boardwalk and casinos–almost instantly, the paved sidewalk ended.  Sidewalks start and end with no apparent rhyme or reason all along Black Horse Pike. Pedestrians on this section of roadway in Atlantic City are forced to walk on gravel and turf. Continuing my westward trek, I encountered a crosswalk that was clearly added to the pike to make it safer for pedestrians to cross between local businesses on either side of the roadway. While this crossing is well-marked and has a pedestrian-activated walk signal, those who are unable to make it all the way across this wide stretch of road before the light turns red will be stuck in the middle of the roadway, with little clearance from passing vehicles:  Pedestrians who are unable to cross quickly are forced to wait in the center of the road, only inches away from speeding traffic. PleasantvilleWest of Atlantic City is Pleasantville. Pedestrian infrastructure here is extremely lacking. While school children, seniors and those with physical disabilities are probably most at risk, the conditions here are so deplorable that, even with extreme caution, it felt unsafe for me to walk here.  Sidewalks here are unpaved, narrow and dotted with obstructions like this post, making the pike difficult to walk along for even the most able-bodied individuals. Click to read more about Pleasantville, Egg Harbor Township, and ways to fix Black Horse Pike. Like many other U.S. cities that have experienced significant industrial decline, high rates of poverty and racial and ethnic segregation, Camden is often presented as a virtual “lost cause.” Negative coverage of the city has only intensified since it was forced to lay off nearly half of its police officers and a third of its firefighters [...] As we reported last week, NJDOT’s proposed fiscal year 2012 Capital Plan currently eliminates all funding for New Jersey’s Transit Village program; however, there may be a glimmer of hope that the money for this program will be reinstated. Prompted by NJ Future during an April 7 roundtable discussion at TransAction, a statewide transportation [...] The following is a first-person account from Tri-State’s South Jersey advocate, Matthew Norris: Norris. If you’re a pedestrian or bike commuter in the state of New Jersey, it is probable that you’re used to traveling up to half a mile out of your way to cross busy six-lane thoroughfares (while honking trucks and [...] |
 
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