To the Editor:
I think of myself as an average Bayonne citizen and taxpayer. Most of my life I have lived here. My wife and I have raised six children in a happy home just a few doors down from where my great-grandfather had his house built in 1900.
Bayonne has changed so much in a little more than a century, but it has kept that local community feel even while being surrounded by two boroughs of New York City, Jersey City, and Newark. That is one of the reasons some of us have stayed here while many of those with whom we grew up left.
Today we are watching multiple construction projects occurring simultaneously.
At any time, managing the NJ Turnpike toll plaza expansion, the Bayonne Bridge roadway renovation, the Saint Barnabas medical building project, and constant Kennedy Boulevard utility-related upgrades can require tremendous logistical planning.
There is always a price for progress. I know that, and I do not think your administration has an easy job balancing all the current improvements that are either required or underway at this point. But I would like to ask this question, “Mr. Mayor. How much thought went into the impact these multiple efforts would have on the residents of Bayonne?”
Most of my friends, neighbors, and relatives have horror stories about traveling in or out of Bayonne in the past year. Saturdays are a real problem, but many of us also find out on our way to work or school each morning that another block which we normally use is closed to traffic. I rarely see such closures published in advance. The traffic lights on Kennedy Boulevard are not in sync more often than any other time since 1965 when my parents moved our family back to Bayonne. Who wants to stop for a red light on 28th Street, go one block and catch another red light on 29th Street, and then only go 2 or 3 blocks after the light turns green? Whoever has this responsibility has been underperforming almost since the beginning of your term.
Do the key decision makers in your administration live in Bayonne? I really wonder, because it seems little concern for the residents is demonstrated in the planning.
I have been told that a police presence is required at the renovation sites. So each day I pass squad cars pulled over on the side of the Boulevard and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the number of people in Bayonne double-parked in front of the drop-off mailbox by the Main Post Office, the incidents of illegal U-turns (especially on Broadway), and drivers coasting through stop signs have all increased. I think there is a relationship. Our brave police officers cannot be in two places at once. So public safety is suffering as drivers and pedestrians think that they can violate statutes without fear of getting caught because our police are spread thin.
Interestingly, I have noticed that the blocks around City Hall don’t have their traffic pattern messed up. Am I mistaken, or is this just a coincidence?
I know that the machine of government must keep running. I have been to at least half a dozen City Council and Planning Board meetings this year. We citizens would be encouraged if the administration and the elected and appointed officials voting in those meetings were as concerned about us as they are about the developers.
I welcome a response, Mr. Mayor.
JOHN S. WHITE