At the Rutherford Borough Council meeting on November 26, 2013, ten bicycling advocates appeared (again) to speak in favor of the bike lanes on Orient Way, while the opposition had only two residents attend and speak. Comments made this time also included opposition to the planned (and unheard of) 13 foot wide travel lanes for Orient Way. Despite the council being presented with a chart showing that 85% of drivers travel at speeds of over 50 mph on roads with 13 foot wide travel lanes, the mayor remained convinced that these were traffic calming measures.
The Rutherford Borough Council is under the impression that, since Orient Way previous to the recent repaving did not have any lines other than a center line, adding a shoulder line regardless of the lane width is going to calm traffic. Traffic calming does not mean simply adding paint to an empty roadway; it requires an analysis and design by traffic planners and engineers who are familiar with complete streets concepts and who have obtained necessary additional knowledge to make the right design choices. The borough council is relying on the “expertise” of its township engineer rather than the advice and guidance provided by NJDOT and its pre-qualified technical assistance contractor. Even the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike do not have travel lanes wider than 12 feet.
The borough engineer has planned to implement a 35 mph speed limit on Orient Way with no traffic study or analysis of lane width versus speed. Is the borough planning to hire extra police to enforce this speed limit, since it has decided to create lanes that will encourage speeds upwards of 50 mph on Orient Way?
As of this writing, lanes have not yet been painted on Orient Way. The borough council decided to use paint rather than thermoplastic to apply the lines on Orient Way, and they will revisit the implementation of bike lanes in the spring.
