Bill Text: NJ A1246 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes creative crosswalks pilot program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee [A1246 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A1246-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblywoman BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Verrelli, Assemblywoman McKnight, Assemblyman Tully, Assemblywomen Swain, Lopez and Assemblyman Calabrese
SYNOPSIS
Establishes creative crosswalks pilot program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing a creative crosswalks pilot program and supplementing Title 40 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Transportation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, shall establish a five-year creative crosswalks pilot program that provides resources for special crosswalk paving treatments. The purpose of the pilot program shall be to install safe, cost efficient, and low-maintenance painted crosswalks, known as "creative crosswalks," designed by public school students, by using a combination of colors, textures, and scoring patterns to improve the visibility of and beautify an existing marked crosswalk and to encourage public school students to engage in creative arts.
b. The Commissioner of Transportation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, shall establish policies and procedures, consistent with the current standards prescribed by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, for the installation of creative crosswalks. The policies shall include guidelines for the permissible designs of the creative crosswalks. The policies shall be designed to create safer, more noticeable crosswalks, while also encouraging creativity and community engagement among public school students.
c. A public school that wants to participate in the pilot program shall submit an application to the Commissioner of Education in such form as required by the commissioner. The public school, as part of the application, shall include information about the need for creative arts activities in the school and documentation certifying that the municipality in which the school is located has approved the school to participate in the creative crosswalks pilot program.
d. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Department of Transportation, shall select up to 10 public schools to participate in the pilot program each school year. The commissioner shall select at least two public schools in each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State and shall seek a cross section of public schools from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State.
e. Each public school student in the public schools selected to participate in the pilot program may submit one design for a creative crosswalk to the Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner of Education shall select five of the submitted designs from each public school each year to be installed in place of existing crosswalks. The commissioner shall select the designs based on the creativity and cost of the submitted design.
f. Not later than six months following completion of the pilot program, the Commissioner of Transportation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, shall provide a report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), presenting information necessary to assess the success of the pilot program, including information assessing the safety of the creative crosswalks and public school participation in the pilot program.
2. This act shall take effect on October 1st of the first full school calendar year following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Transportation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, to establish a five-year creative crosswalks pilot program. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Transportation, is required to select up to 10 public schools to participate in the program each year. The Commissioner of Education is required to select at least two public schools from each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State and is required to seek a cross section of schools from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State. As part of the application to participate in the program, a public school is required to provide information about the need for creative arts activities in the school and documentation certifying that the municipality in which the school district is located has approved the school to participate in the pilot program.
Six months following the completion of the pilot program, the Commissioner of Transportation and the Commissioner of Education are to submit a report evaluating the success of the pilot program.
