Two weeks ago, I ran up Mt. Pleasant from Pleasant Valley Way towards Essex Green. It connects a couple of neighborhoods to the shopping center and the library, but it needs sidewalks along about a quarter mile of the road to make it safe.
If you attempt to get there from Eagle Rock on Prospect, you’re going through the interchange with I-80 and there are no sidewalks. Heading north from Northfield has you on a narrow, busy road with no sidewalks.
That leaves one other way to approach Essex Green – north and west up Mt. Pleasant. So this week, I jogged over to the intersection of Gregory and Mt. Pleasant. I turned north to head up to the shopping plaza to see what the route is like.
In a word: bad. But it doesn’t have to be.
The Problem Areas Heading West
The map above marks out the problem areas on the route. The yellow areas aren’t terrible, but the orange area is particularly dangerous as is.
The first bit – from Highland Place up to the northbound part of Gregory Ave – is fine. There’s a nice sidewalk along the entire perimeter of that block.
But north of there, the sidewalks disappear. There is room on the side of the road to run in the grass, so it’s do-able. There’s also plenty of space available there to install a sidewalk.
When you get to Byrne Road, there are sidewalks going down into the little neighborhood. This also connects the neighborhood to the bus stop at the corner of Byrne and Mt. Pleasant. But there are no sidewalks along Mt. Pleasant.
This bus stop also represents a problem. The companion bus stop is across the street in front of Crest Ridge Apartments. If you’re taking the 71 from that area, you’re going to have to cross Mt. Pleasant Ave either when you get on the bus or when you get off. The people in the apartments have no alternative, and the people around Byre Road would have to walk a circuitous route down to Gregory to use the next bus stop.
Past Byrne Road, there is a part where it gets particularly treacherous. Some of the houses don’t have room to run on the lawn, so you’re in the lane of traffic. But once you get to the curve in the road, Mt Pleasant goes back to one lane and there’s a nice, wide shoulder. The rest of the way up to the intersection at Prospect is better, but certainly needs a sidewalk.
Turn right at Prospect, and you’re almost there. But neither side of Prospect has a continuous sidewalk from Mt. Pleasant to Essex Green. Regardless of which side you’re on, there’s at least a small break in the sidewalk.
How We Can Make Things Safer
Let’s start with the obvious: sidewalks would be nice. And while you might not think anyone would actually walk this way, people do. When I was scouting the area on Google street maps, there’s literally a guy in the photo at the top of Mt. Pleasant approaching the intersection with Prospect.
It would also help if the street remained one lane, at least through Prospect. From Gregory Ave east to the interchange with I-280, this is one lane. And from the curve west to Prospect, it’s one lane. It only opens up to two lanes for about a quarter mile between Gregory Ave and the curve. For what purpose? I don’t know.
But if you maintain one lane throughout the entire section, you a) introduce a road diet and slow down the cars and b) create more space for a sidewalk or at least a protected walking lane.
There should also be a crosswalk installed at Mt. Pleasant and Byrne to facilitate crossing the street between the bus stops. This would also make it easier for people at Crest Ridge Apartments to walk, well, anywhere. Because otherwise, they’re cut off on an island.
As is, I wouldn’t recommend anyone walk or run this way. With the part that you have to be in the street, it’s not safe. Especially if you’re heading north and your back is to traffic. Being on the other side of the street would be even worse, because you’re in the street and around a blind curve from people coming down the hill.
But it wouldn’t take much to improve things. Even just taking the road down to one lane would make it safer, without making any additional physical improvements. That just takes some paint and maybe some bolted down bollards. And slowing down the road has other benefits besides improving accessibility to Essex Green and the West Orange Public Library.