At the South Orange Transportation and Pedestrian Safety committee meeting on Wednesday night, the Village engineer told residents that the Village has no intention of removing any of the medians — also known as pedestrian islands — on Lenox Avenue.
The Lenox Avenue project won’t be completed until May, according to the committee, and in the meantime, the South Orange Police Department will conduct a follow-up traffic study to see how well the the islands are doing what they’re intended to do — slow traffic.
Village Engineer David Battaglia was responding to Samantha Banker, a resident of upper Lenox who presented the committee with a petition signed by 84 neighbors, most of whom live on Lenox and want the pedestrian island on upper Lenox removed because speeding is not an issue on that portion of the street.
One of the photos showing tire tracks on the curb in the snow, as well as a piece of car bumper. (Courtesy of Samantha Banker)
Banker also gave the committee several large photos of tire tracks on the medians as well as the sidewalks and curbs, which she said shows that large trucks — including firetrucks — have a hard time navigating the turns on Lenox now. Banker said the width of the lanes with the islands installed seems too narrow for trucks to safely navigate.
“They are standard 12 feet,” Battaglia responded. “The perception of it being too narrow is exactly what we’re looking for. If people perceive it being too narrow, they’ll slow down.”
Battaglia also said trucks or fire engines running over the medians is a maintenance issue, not a safety issue.
“A fire truck can drive over the island. If they break the curb, we’ll fix it,” he said.
RELATED: Fire Chief Says Challenging Turns on Lenox Avenue in South Orange Are Not a Safety Issue
Banker and those who signed the petition questioned why the median was placed on the upper portion of Lenox when it wasn’t needed and why neighbors on that part of the street weren’t told in advance that it was happening — so they never got a chance to voice their opinions.
Since circulating the petition, Banker said she has watched the traffic patterns of cars turning off of Wyoming on to Lenox, and said, “for every 30 cars turning down the hill on Lenox, only one or two turned up into my neighborhood.”
Battaglia said that traffic calming measures are designed for an entire street for consistency, and on Lenox, every intersection has pedestrian islands except for where the street ends at Walton Avenue.
A few residents on the lower portions of Lennox also attended the hybrid meeting, virtually, and thanked the Village for its efforts to slow what has been described as “aggressive speeding“ on Lenox.
A couple of neighbors the lowest portion of Lenox, between Walton and Ridgewood Road, said neighbors there are waiting on results of the follow-up traffic study to see what the data shows, and while they welcome the measures, so far on that stretch they haven’t noticed too much change. People still speed.
The committee — which includes three Village Council members, the South Orange Police Chief and other officers and the engineer — was formed to address citizens’ concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety and give residents a place to bring those concerns. Also because residents have complained that communication about upcoming projects needed improvement.
The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for April 15, 2026.
