Montclair Doing Nothing For Pedestrian Safety

Living on Grove Street, I have voiced my concern with the town and police regarding the cars, buses, and trucks racing down the street at highways speeds. Unfortunately it only seems to get worse. My other concern is with the utter disregard drivers have for children or adults trying to cross the streets. It is a law that drivers must stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk but in my experience and observations, 95% don't .

Seeing crosswalk beacons (flashing lights at the push of a button) being installed in our town the latter part of 2017 was a step in the right direction. I personally sent a letter and email to Mayor Jackson back in December, 2017 requesting beacons be installed at the corner of Grove Street and Columbus Avenue. He assured me he would reach out to his staff to make sure this was prioritized. Nine months went by without any progress so I emailed again in August, 2018 and he stated there had been a patent issue. He referred me to Timothy Stafford, the acting Township Manager who told me the appropriate staff were notified of the priority of issue. Specifically beacons were tied up in patent litigation and Montclair and every other town in the US were prohibited from acquiring any. I was expecting beacons to be installed at Grove/Columbus and other crossing areas throughout town but instead, we've had no movement.

I previously voiced my pleasure at the responsiveness of Mayor Jackson. He answered my emails the same day I sent them but at this point, they're all empty words. I'm unhappy with what the response from this Mayor and Township. They've done nothing about the problem of crosswalk safety and out of control drivers on the streets our kids and families walk and bike on. As more condos and buildings are built downtown, more cars race down the streets to get to their destination faster without enforcement and without deterrents. Maybe more speed bumps are needed around town. Perhaps crosswalks need to be more clearly painted and beacons installed. Maybe there needs to be police stationed around town to act as a deterrent to speeders and law breakers. I don't have the answers to this but I'm going to look harder now because the Mayor and Township are doing nothing about it.