Medford and Evesham townships could have been like two ships passing in the night. The neighboring Burlington County towns in southern New Jersey were planning bike paths, unaware of the work of the other.

 

Enter Cross County Connection (CCC), a transportation management association (TMA), and Burlington County. Armed with a vision of regional planning, Cross County brought the townships to the same table. Maps were drawn up, routes were compared and soon the bike paths were designed to meet at the town borders.

 

Burlington County and its 45 municipalities are working out the wrinkles between local governments and, with the help of Cross County, growing a regional transportation network, using healthy doses of local enthusiasm and cooperation. For instance, Voorhees and Haddonfield recently enhanced 30 miles of bike paths with signs and lane striping to keep riders safe. These improvements were backed with targeted marketing, presentations of the new routes at public events, safety classes offered to cyclists and drivers, and distribution of low-cost or free items such as lights, reflective clothing and educational materials.

 

“This is really changing the way municipalities think about bike lanes–they think regionally,” said Bill Ragozine of the CCCTMA.

Over 450 miles of bike paths have been added or enhanced throughout the county, linking communities together. The efforts have been initiated and financed by the county and individual municipalities.

 

Cross County is a coalition of public agencies and businesses that has been working on transportation issues in southern New Jersey since 1988. Its mission is to coordinate efforts and priorities in transportation, and ultimately reduce the number of cars on the road. Offering technical assistance on planning for non-motorized transportation, Cross County is working closely with the state and municipalities to deliver needed improvements.

 

Improving the roadside often faces hurdles when communities fear they’ll bear the brunt of costs or when government regulations require environmental reviews that can prove costly. Long range planning avoids many potential conflicts by folding bike lane and sidewalk improvements into planned roadway repairs. “If we’re going to pave a road, we may as well just plan to widen the shoulder a little,” said Ragozine. “The process just gets meshed together.”

 

The coordination starts by mapping bike and pedestrian routes in individual municipalities, including existing, planned and programmed paths. The reports are sent to the