Shared Lane Markings on Main Street

Just noticed today the symbols on Main Street in Hackettstown. They start at the railroad tracks on Main Street and continue on Route 46 East until the traffic light by Target. They are on both lanes of traffic. I observed workers today ( DOT? ) putting them on the recently paved street by the Presbyterian church. The symbols are for shared lane markings for bicycles and automobiles. They were not on this street before. What exactly do they mean?


“The symbols are for shared lane markings for bicycles and automobiles.”

You answered your own question. The state DOT put them there. They are meant as reminders that cars have to share the road with bikes. Not that I can imagine many bikes would use 46 but that’s what the state wanted to do on their road.

Jim L Jim L
Nov '20

TP

You should subscribe to the Nixle alerts. I got both a text and email at 06:59 that warned of traffic delays from Valentine St. to Water St. from 7:00am until 4:00pm due to contractors painting bicycle "sharrow" markings on Rt. 46 "to enhance safety for bicycle commuters". Apparently, it's part of their whole "plan" that they've been carrying out for repaving, etc. to help traffic flow and relieve congestion.

Like Jim L., I don't know who would prefer to use Rt. 46 to ride on, as opposed to a side road or roads.

Phil D. Phil D.
Nov '20

I'm just going to throw one out of the park...but I would assume they mean, share the road...just a guess - SMH

DancerLife
Nov '20

My question is, when are the going to finish the paving job??? They never paved the two major intersections main and grand ave and the 5corners!!! I can't believe the state would spend all that money and not do a complete job!!

Oops, never mind it's NJ I guess they would do that!!

Dadof3
Nov '20

Jim L, do you happen to know anything about the new cross walks? State or town idea? They look nice, and I hope they stay that way but my initial thought is they are going to get destroyed by plow turcks. Example being the fancy crosswalk they put in on main street in Washington, didn't make it through one winter without getting trashed. Hopefully this is a different style of crosswalk.

englishe30 englishe30
Nov '20

The Washington crosswalks were actual pavers/bricks while I understand the Hackettstown ones are stamped. There are stamped ones in Califon on the county rd and there has been no issue.


Whip is correct. the "stamped" brick should last longer and not get torn up by the plows.

As far as the idea, the town included it in our Master Plan that we wanted to enhance the crosswalks in town and our Town Engineer did a great job working with the state DOT to get it done when they finally decided to repave Rte 46. So I'll give credit to our Engineer, this has been on our wish list for years and we're glad it got done.

Jim L. Jim L.
Nov '20

"They never paved the two major intersections main and grand ave and the 5corners"

Welcome to the bureaucratic Bermuda triangle. Rte 46 is a state road, High/Grand is a County road.

Same with Rte 46 and Willow Grove

Good luck figuring out who's responsible for paving the intersection when state meets county. ugh it's a nightmare.

Jim L. Jim L.
Nov '20

Just don’t see how Washington or it’s supplier could make that mistake. Really looked great in the beginning, but didn’t seem to even make the “warranty” time.

Strangerdanger Strangerdanger
Nov '20

Thanks for clarifying. Definitely a nice addition to town.

englishe30 englishe30
Nov '20

@Jim L, so are you saying that the town paid to have the other intersections paved? But Warren st. Is town? And mountain ave is state isn't it!!
It's just frustrating that that situation exists

Dadof3
Nov '20

The town did not pay to have any of the intersections paved. The state did the whole Main St out of the state’s DOT budget.

Jim L Jim L
Nov '20

Well, even those of us not in town paid
:-)

The question is: was it state decided or did the town do work to get it.

Looks nice however it happened.

Strangerdanger Strangerdanger
Nov '20

DancerLife

That's why I put the quotation marks over "Sharrow". That's actually what the announcement stated.

I hadn't heard the expression before, but after googling it, I see that it's a 21st Century construct that's a combination of "share" and "arrow".

Apparently, when bike lanes end, the "sharrow" chevrons show where bikes should stay when sharing the road with cars if dedicated bike lanes have ended or are non-existent.

As far as the stamped pavers. I've seen the ones in Stanhope and Hopatcong that weren't stamped and the pavers get knocked up and out of the pattern by various means, plow trucks being a major offender. Glad to hear they went with the stamped ones!

Phil D. Phil D.
Nov '20

I have to say they look nice and convey the meaning but there sure are a heck of a lot of them. Interesting road choice as well as there are not many bikers choosing Route 46 as the route of choice.

CraftBeerBob CraftBeerBob
Nov '20

Hate to be a Debbie downer here, with all of the state's fiscal problems, should the crosswalk money have been better spent elsewhere?

Is there a demonstrable safety benefit to these crosswalks or being beneficial to local business other than "they look nice"?

Route 46
Nov '20

46 - my message was questioning the need for them as well. In typical state dealings the budget for it was approved and if they don’t use it they lose it philosophy still exists at every turn. So that it is more then likely why the work was done.

CraftBeerBob CraftBeerBob
Nov '20

IMO, some streetlights directly over the crosswalks would be a great safety feature. So many times, pedestrians crossing with dark clothing can't be seen. I know it is their responsibility to wear visible clothing, but people are people.


@CBB: agree totally. And as others pointed out...why leave out the major intersections during this job.

One last point: the installation of these crosswalks made an absolute mess of traffic when they were done. Most of the actual road construction was done at night, same should have been the case for these crosswalks which were done during the day and caused much of Main St. to be closed.

Route 46
Nov '20

I think everything looks great. I was under the impression that the high street intersection and 5 corners were not repaved because there was a survey out/discussion of redesigning them for better traffic flow?

Curious
Nov '20

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