Sidewalks will ensure safety of Shrewsbury's students

In a recent article in the Hub, Garden Road was described as a safe street in a self-contained neighborhood. Factually, Garden Road and its neighboring street to the east, Beechwood Drive, are the only collector streets connecting Sycamore Avenue and White Street. These streets serve as routes to White Street, a safe route to the borough elementary school for children living on Sunnybank Drive, Trafalger Place, Pennbrook Drive, Regent Drive, Wakefield Court, East End Avenue, North Park Avenue, Park Avenue, Court Drive, Crest Drive, West End Avenue, Willow Court and Strauss Drive.

A traffic count study was conducted Aug. 20 2008, from 7-9 a.m. at the intersections of Sycamore Avenue/Garden Road and Garden Road/White Street. Findings:

• Sycamore Avenue/Garden Road intersection — 25 vehicles entered Garden Road from Sycamore Avenue and 27 vehicles exited from Garden Road

• Garden Road/White Street intersection — 25 vehicles entered White Street from Garden Road and 13 vehicles entered Garden Road from White Street; 10 vehicles crossed over White Street on Garden Road.

In 2007, Borough Council adopted the state sponsored Safe Routes to School Program (SRSP). The objectives of the SRSP are to enable and encourage

children to walk to school, to make walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, and to facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution in the vicinity of the Shrewsbury Elementary School. As a result, sidewalks were constructed along routes to school, including White Street (with the assistance of a state grant of $132,000).

The council provided funding for a pedestrian safety program in the CY2007 budget for Robinson Place and Borden Street and in the CY2008 budget for Garden Road. In 2008, council authorized the filing of a grant application for sidewalks on Garden Road, Robinson Place and Borden Street. Following inspections of these streets by NJDOT, the borough was awarded a grant of $165,000 for pedestrian safety on Garden Road, Robinson Place and Borden Street.

If called upon to vote on the safe routes to school projects currently approved by the Borough Council, my vote will be an affirmative vote for sidewalks to be constructed as planned to ensure the safety and welfare of the 510 students enrolled in the Shrewsbury Elementary School.
Mayor Emilia M. Siciliano
Borough of Shrewsbury