Basking Ridge Petition Seeks Sidewalk, Cites Safety Concerns

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A resident shared a petition with 55 signatures asking the Bernards Township Committee to consider building a sidewalk along part of South Maple Avenue, saying families in her neighborhood lack a safe walking route to nearby destinations.

On Tuesday, Kathryn Larkin, of Keystone Court, told the committee, "I am here to present you with a petition that I took around to my neighbors. Keystone Court is off of South Maple and the speed limit is 40 miles per hour there, and there's no sidewalk."

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She said each of the nine homes in the neighborhood has a child living there.

Larkin said the neighborhood has more than a quarter mile of sidewalk internally, but that it ends when residents reach Maple.

"So you're forced to walk along the side of Maple with cars flying past you," she said. "If you're trying to walk your dog with children, it's really not safe."

She told the committee the area is less than a mile from Cedar Hill School, Lord Stirling Park and Crane Farm's farm stand, but those places are "really inaccessible to us at this point."

Larkin said her original request was for a sidewalk extending to Hilltop, but an engineering estimate found that route was not safe because there was not enough visibility.

According to Larkin, the alternative would extend the sidewalk to Heather Lane and create a quarter-mile stretch. She said the estimate for that work would be $300,000.

Mayor Ana Duarte McCarthy said Larkin first contacted her by email and that Township Engineer Tim Timko had already conducted a survey and assessment.

"This is a good time to come in because all of our departments are looking at budgets going into the next few months and we'll look at considerations and requests like this," McCarthy said.

McCarthy also said engineering would review the neighborhood and compare the request with township priorities.

She thanked Larkin for gathering the petition and bringing the request to the committee.

Larkin closed by tying the issue to daily life in the neighborhood.

"My nine-year-old daughter asks me every day if she can walk to school and I said no," she said. "You cannot walk to school, but maybe if we had a sidewalk, then I'd feel a little more comfortable with her making that journey."

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