August - September 2001 Edition

Editorial:  County Doesn't Really Seem to Care   The Bergen County traffic engineers have rejected two recent attempts to make Fair Lawn Avenue (a county owned road) safer for drivers and pedestrians.    First, the county engineers turned down the borough’s request to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Fair Lawn Avenue and Chandler Drive (in front of the new Fair Lawn Commons development).  Now, the county engineers say they can’t do anything to help pedestrians on Fair Lawn Avenue.     From the county engineers’ perspective, Fair Lawn Avenue is an important road that connects Paterson, Route 208 and Paramus.  They want a lot of cars moving fast.     To Fair Lawn residents, it is a local street with homes, shopping, offices, houses of worship, schools, bus stops and the train station.  Every day, children and seniors need to walk along and across the street.   Last year, Fair Lawn's Pedestrian Safety Task Force highlighted narrow sidewalks, difficult to cross intersections and confusing traffic signals.  After months of working with local, state and county planning officials – the Task Force developed a set of reasonable recommendations to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.     Then, the Task Force waited for the county to respond.  And, they waited.  After a year and lot of badgering, the county engineers finally responded   The engineers rejected the recommendations.  Even more disturbing, it was clear that the engineers had not even read the Task Force report.   Fair Lawn News thinks residents should not give up.  The county engineers work for the County Executive, Pat Schuber.  If enough Fair Lawn residents contact the County Executive and urge him to be more sensitive to the needs of our community, then we can have a safer and more pleasant Fair Lawn Avenue.   How to contact the County Executive:  Pat Schuber Bergen County Executive One Bergen County Plaza Hackensack, NJ 07601 Phone:  (201) 336-7300 E- Mail: wpschuber@co.bergen.nj.us     What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.