'Walk in My Shoes' in Dangerous Conditions, Resident Tells Mayor

Editor's note: The following Letter to the Editor was written by a Morristown resident and is directed specifically toward Mayor Tim Dougherty. 

Mayor Dougherty,

I would like to invite you to take a walk today ... a walk in my shoes ... as a resident and train commuter of Morristown.

But first, let me introduce myself to you before I explain why I want you to take a walk today. 

My name is Joy and my boyfriend, Steve, and I have lived in Morristown now for two years. We love it. We chose Morristown because of its great location, public transportation, easy access to major highways and the sense of community. We are fortunate enough to be able to walk or bike just about everywhere in town: the train station, restaurants, the farmers market – or nowhere in particular just because it's a beautiful day. We’ve even joined local groups to help give back to the community we’ve come to love so much. One of those groups is Bike and Walk Morristown, which promotes safe biking and walking in the area.

Which leads me to why I am writing you. I live on Ridgedale Avenue and walk down Lafayette Avenue every morning to get to the train station. It's normally a very safe and pleasant 10-minute walk for me. That is, until this winter. 

There are two large sections of the sidewalks on both sides of Lafayette that haven't yet been cleared of snow this winter. After the first few storms, the snow was inconvenient, but the sidewalks remained usable. I reported the issue to the town each time, but nothing was done to resolve the situation. We then got that large storm that dumped more than a foot of snow, but still the sidewalks have not been cleared. They are now totally unusable, forcing residents such as myself to walk in the street.  With black ice and cars speeding by, it's a dangerous situation and an accident waiting to happen.

So, Mayor Dougherty, I ask you to take a few minutes today to walk in my shoes. From the train station, walk up to Ridgedale, cross the street and come back down Lafayette. That's all. Judge for yourself the condition of the sidewalks for commuters and residents like me who rely on that area to get to work and enjoy the town.

Joy Renee Selnick
Morristown
Member, Bike and Walk Morristown