Dear Mayor Wallace and Council,

We, the undersigned, urge you to make our streets safer and more accessible for everyone to use, regardless their age, ability, or mode of transportation. We believe that Glassboro’s streets aren’t safe or accommodating enough for pedestrians, cyclists, children, the elderly, and people experiencing disability.

In particular, school age children and young adults can’t safely travel to school on foot or bike. This increases car dependency, which worsens traffic congestion and pollution, and costs parents unnecessary time in transit and being stuck in traffic.

Our current reliance on speed limits, stop signs, traffic lights, and painted crosswalks to calm traffic and protect people doesn’t do enough. We need better street design.

We believe that the following improvements would make a significant difference:

Separated bike lanes: Physically buffering cyclists from motorists creates a safe and convenient alternative to driving for all ages. Possible barriers include posts, bollards, planters, and curbs.Bike separated by a curb

Raised intersections: These help calm traffic speeds, improve accessibility, and encourage motorists to yield to pedestrians. At minor intersections they can also replace stop signs.

Curb Extensions: Physically narrowing the roadway at pedestrian crossings creates shorter and more visible pedestrian access. Do this at intersection mouths or in the middle of a block, depending on need. These also increase space for furniture and fixtures like benches, bus shelters, bike corrals (see below), lights, and plants.

Continuous sidewalks: Unbroken sidewalks, running along the entire length of a street, make pedestrians more visible and encourage motorists to yield. Pedestrians would no longer need to step down into the street to cross intersections, which can be dangerous for all and less accessible for people experiencing disability.

Raised crosswalks: Similar to continuous sidewalks, but often at mid-block crossings, raised crosswalks make pedestrians more visible, encourage motorists to yield, and help calm traffic speed.

Bike corrals: Glassboro lacks adequate bicycle parking in key areas like High Street, Borough Hall, and public parks. Bike corrals can be installed in car parking areas or on sidewalks.

We ask the Borough to make the following actions:

Partner with the NJ Safe Routes to Schools Program to support active travel by youth.

Have Borough engineers study traffic and pedestrian safety—with an emphasis on streets near schools, downtown, Rowan University, and transit stops—and recommend the above improvements where needed.

Coordinate with the appropriate level of government to ban 18-wheeler trucks from Route 322 between Bowe Boulevard and Main Street (through Rowan campus). Put up signage by Inspira Hospital directing trucks to take the new Dr. Leo McCabe Bypass instead of continuing into Glassboro on Route 322.

We believe that these improvements would make Glassboro safer, more accessible, more sustainable, and more prosperous. We urge you to take action to make our streets safe for all.

Update 11/05/2023: Now that the Glassboro Public Library is being relocated to 101 Rowan Boulevard, we ask the Mayor and Council to urgently study how to make Main Street safer to cross and bike with physical improvements, not just paint, signs, and flashing lights. Possibilities include:

Raise the intersection of Main Street and High Street;
Make the sidewalks on Main Street continuous;
Create a mid-block crosswalk between the bus shelters on Main Street;
Raise every crosswalk on Main Street;
Build physically buffered bike lanes on Main Street and High Street.

Update 12/28/2023: Other NJ towns have already applied for and received Federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grants from the US Department of Transportation. The next round for grant applications is coming up in February 2024. We urge the Mayor and Council to apply.