'Complete Streets' Policy Adopted

There were a number of reasons for Morristown to adopt a "Complete Streets" policy, according to officials. Surprisingly, much of what that policy entails was not one of them, since much of that has already been done by the town.

Morristown's own "Complete Streets" policy was approved at Tuesday night's council meeting, leading the way for not only a more organized, official list of how best to serve the needs of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. It also gives the town better leverage on things like Department of Transportation grants, said town planning advisor Phil Abramson, with Jonathan Rose Companies.

"We're more competitive for these grants," he told Town Council. "But, these are things we've already been doing."

Department of Public Works head Jeff Hartke echoed that statement, noting "this is just the next step."

Championed by Stefan Armington long before , the official "Complete Streets" policy, modeled in part after the New Jersey Department of Transportation's own "Complete Streets" policy, takes into consideration how automobile, pedestrian and bicycle traffic can and should co-exist. Because it's now on the books, Armington also noted "this will re-enforce that extending into future administrations."

Although the state DOT has a "Complete Streets" model for towns to emulate, Armington noted Morristown was only the 27th municipality in New Jersey to have an official policy in place. 

Kendra Arnold, co-founder of Bike and Walk Morristown, said after the vote that having such a policy in place was "a very big deal.

"This is great for not only bicyclists and pedestrians, but for the whole town," she said.