Cooper Road (and presumably Whipporhill Valley Road): cyclists and pedestrians banned!!!!

wonderturtle

Well-Known Member
this morning I noticed a new sign that bans cyclists and pedestrians from Cooper Road (I can only assume that same signage went up on Whipporwill Valley Road)

for those here that use those roads, I dont think I need to explain how stupid, unnecessary and counter-productive such a ban is. specifically by counter-productive I actually I think the sign could cause additional dangers as drivers may: (1) be less cautious moving forward since they wont be looking out for peds and cyclists; and/or (2) may actually embolden some drivers to be more aggressive towards "law-breaking" cyclists, joggers and walkers .

lastly, I also find it very intere$ting how equa$strians were not included in thi$ ban. if any non-vehicle has the potential to create conflicts with vehicles it would be equastrians as they take up far more room on the road, far more, and a far less able to maneuver out of the way. yet they arent banned too? very intere$sting and incon$i$tent.

I have no idea if there was any ordinance behind it (which I am almost certain would be necessary for any actual enforcement of the sign) but there very existence will just as well create the additional problems I indicated above.

I cant find any direct email for the mayor but I am going to be submitting something to the Town via the form (form for making contact with the town) under "departments" I am going to select the Mayor. I strongly urge others to do the same. particularly the Middletown residents.

image0 (4).jpeg
 

krink

Eddie Munster
This does not look very official and I'm hoping it is only temporary due to the closure of Navesink River Rd.
Thats a great point. I know they are restarting the bridge work on Nav River road. With that bridge closed last spring for the same project, the traffic on Cooper was crowded and fast.
 

wonderturtle

Well-Known Member
They weren’t put up by randoms. They are metal but more telling - if you look closely - they were put up in conjunction with the rough road and mph signs (signs overlap and share screws). So someone “official” put it up.

Thus while almost certainly put up by the township i question if banning those user groups is even legal - banning bikes from the GSP is understandable but from a very low traffic dirt road?!

Further, in order to be enforceable signs such as this need to be backed by ordinance. Without the ordinance it’s unenforceable. If not backed by an ordinance they should not have been put up

oh and did I mention no ban on hor$e$? The one thing that blocks the road FAR more a bike or walker and is far less able to move out of the way. They’re good? Really?
 
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CommandoStyle

Well-Known Member
They weren’t put up by randoms. They are metal but more telling - if you look closely - they were put up in conjunction with the rough road and mph signs (signs overlap and share screws). So someone “official” put it up.

Thus while almost certainly put up by the township i question if banning those user groups is even legal - banning bikes from the GSP is understandable but from a very low traffic dirt road?!

Further, in order to be enforceable signs such as this need to be backed by ordinance. Without the ordinance it’s unenforceable. If not backed by an ordinance they should not have been put up

oh and did I mention no ban on hor$e$? The one thing that blocks the road FAR more a bike or walker and is far less able to move out of the way. They’re good? Really?
Probably the same clowns that incorrectly setup the detour signs on Monday morning. We should ride this road at night in protest; specifically, on mischief night.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
They weren’t put up by randoms. They are metal but more telling - if you look closely - they were put up in conjunction with the rough road and mph signs (signs overlap and share screws). So someone “official” put it up.

Thus while almost certainly put up by the township i question if banning those user groups is even legal - banning bikes from the GSP is understandable but from a very low traffic dirt road?!

Further, in order to be enforceable signs such as this need to be backed by ordinance. Without the ordinance it’s unenforceable. If not backed by an ordinance they should not have been put up

oh and did I mention no ban on hor$e$? The one thing that blocks the road FAR more a bike or walker and is far less able to move out of the way. They’re good? Really?
I see an OPRa request in your future.
Or you can just ride it and see if anything happens
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
I guarantee you those are not official signs. First off the street signs would never be overlapped. IMHO this is no different than the local snobs that try to get cyclists off the public dirt roads off 36 before the light tower. Remember that cyclists have the right to take up an entire lane of a road. I used to ride up and down Cooper every Saturday/Sunday when training. Screw NYCers and screw timhe rich horse people. They are the same people that wouldn’t allow the Bedminster dirt roads to ever be paved.
 
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stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
My rudimentary knowledge of Uniform Traffic Code is that enforceable signage cannot be placed on utility poles. They must be on dedicated metal poles with signs located at specific heights.

Let's see if I'm right.
I don’t think this holds up, a mast arm would be an example as tons of signs are mounted to the “post” that holds the mast arm. That being said, I am not sure.

It is more of an issue of ownership. The utility company owns the poles, so if an agency wants to mount signs to them, they need to lease that space. We did an inventory of telephone poles on state routes in NJ for that exact reason. One of the utility company was sending a bill to the state for however many years. The state didn’t have the data to support NOT paying it so did an inventory to verify if the amount was correct. On state routes, more than 6,000 signs are mounted to poles, however they could be metal light poles.

Anyways, back to the regularly scheduled common persons conspiracy theory postings…
 

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