Mayor Dispels Claims Of Inaction On Road Safety In Parsippany

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Following social media complaints about the mayor and administration's failure to handle and resolve community issues and requests, Parsippany Township Mayor James Barberio took the time to refute those claims and provide further clarification on the matter.

During the Sept. 5 township council meeting, Barberio began by dismissing any claims that the town's Mayor's Action Center system was inefficient for communicating with the administration.

"I just want to make one thing clear. How the Mayor's Action Center works is that we get complaints that come in and then we forward them to the departments, to the professionals that will handle them," Barberio said.

The Mayor's Action Center is a notification system that the township established to address residents' problems in a timely way.

Residents can use this system to create a ticket, citing their complaint or opinion, and that ticket is automatically logged in to guarantee that every request is on file and easily retrievable. Requests are routed to the relevant department, and the requester is ideally kept updated throughout the process.

According to the social media post, the administration had not addressed concerns regarding safety on Meadow Bluff Road and Mountain Way Road, which had been brought up with the administration and township various times over the last four years.

In 2019, a group of residents started a petition asking for sidewalks or a walking path on those roads, stating that they were a major safety concern for their families.

In July, the township received another letter from a township resident seeking further safety measures on particular roadways and even offering suggestions on what could be done. The mayor stated that as soon as he received the letter, he forwarded it to the police department and the township engineer since they would be the correct channels to handle the situation.

According to the mayor, Captain Brian Dowd has since contacted the residents with the hopes of addressing their concerns about speeding on Meadow Bluff Road, Mountain Way Road and Powder Mill Road.

One option was to collect speed data for those specific roadways as part of a multi-month process. Meanwhile, the police department stated that they would increase enforcement and patrols in the areas of concern.

Barberio stated that as part of the data collection, more than 13,500 vehicles were analyzed on Meadow Bluff Road, with an average speed of 28 miles per hour. On Mountain Way Road, more than 13,700 vehicles were analyzed at an average speed of 33 miles per hour.

Now that school has started, the police department will be monitoring those roads again, and those two numbers will be compared to one another.

Barberio further stated that the administration has met with the township engineer several times to discuss this issue and has subsequently discovered that the width of Mountain Way Road may be the cause of potential speeding.

"Drivers tend to drive faster on wider roadways. The road transitions from 30 feet wide in the wooded area near the park to 40 feet wide in front of the houses," Barberio said.

The township engineer also mentioned that one of the most effective ways to slow traffic in that region would be to paint fresh lines on the roads to shift the drivers' perspective and provide the impression of a smaller roadway. This would also provide people with a place to walk.

"As you can see, multiple employees and multiple departments are very quickly working to address the resident's concerns. It seems the township's work has been preempted by misinformation and politics," Barberio said.

The mayor also added that the police department is planning to hold a meeting to discuss repainting the road and other ideas for making Mountain Way Road safer for the community.