Last summer, Mobilizing the Region documented the conditions that make the Black Horse Pike one of New Jersey’s most dangerous roads for walking. After Tri-State and AARP made a strong push for pedestrian safety solutions, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) took steps to make the road safer for pedestrians. Some of the changes are shown below.
New Sidewalks: A Step in the Right Direction
NJDOT installed over 5,000 feet of sidewalk along the corridor in Hamilton and Pleasantville townships, including at this intersection of the Black Horse Pike and Leipzig Avenue, where sidewalks were once lacking.
More Remains to Be Done
Despite NJDOT’s laudable progress, Tri-State’s most recent visit to the Black Horse Pike found room for continued improvement. For example, traveling eastward from the intersection with Leipzig Avenue, the new sidewalks continue, but in order to access a crosswalk that traverses the Black Horse Pike itself, pedestrians are directed to cross at a location without a crosswalk.
In addition, near Pleasantville, new sections of sidewalk ease pedestrian travel, but they are still not continuous along the corridor.
NJDOT should be applauded for its recent work along the Black Horse Pike corridor in Atlantic County. The new sidewalks will certainly make traveling safer and more convenient for countless pedestrians, yet more remains to be done. Through continued coordination between NJDOT, advocates, local officials, and community members, further attention and additional infrastructure improvements can turn the Black Horse Pike into a safer place to walk, bike, and drive.
Those curb ramps in that last photo do not meet the proposed 2011 PROWAG requirements. If you are in a wheelchair those ramps will send you into the intersection and into traffic, not down into the crosswalks.
If its going to get done then do it right… the first time!
[…] A portion of the fines collected in S230/A959 and S229/A960 would be dedicated to enforcement and education initiatives on “high priority roadways” where more than four pedestrian fatalities have occurred in the previous calendar year, or more than eight pedestrian fatalities in the prior three calendar years. According to Tri-State’s most recent Most Dangerous Roads report, those roads could include Route 1, Route 9, Route 30 (White Horse Pike), Route 35, Route 130 and Route 322/40 (Black Horse Pike). […]