Delivered to 15,000 Plainfield "doorsteps" Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Plainfield left out of Barclays planning


Convenient, secure and nearby parking at Muhlenberg seems to have been overlooked.
It seems odd that with the Barclays tournament set to open at the Plainfield Country Club next week (see the Barclays page here), there have been no traffic alerts for Plainfield residents who may will be affected by the expected 100,000 visitors and concomitant increase in traffic on area roads.

A friend who visits a Plainfielder who is currently in the nursing home on Inman Avenue right across from the golf course expressed concern a few days ago at how traffic would be managed during the tournament.


It turns out that Edison has put a page of road restrictions up on the township's website (see here), though you may have to read them a couple of times to make sure you get them right.

When resident Nancy Piwowar raised the roads issue with the Council Monday evening (in the context of how people are supposed to get to JFK Medical Center), Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig responded that he had received the traffic plan, although Plainfield had not been included in the planning process.

This struck many attendees (myself included) as a bit high-handed by Edison, given that both Plainfield and South Plainfield abut the Plainfield County Club and the traffic is sure to impact both Plainfield residents and visitors.

Edison mayor Antonia Ricigliano told the Edison Sentinel newspaper that she had met with local officials from neighboring communities 'such as Scotch Plains and Clark' (see here), and that shuttles would be run from the former Oak Ridge Country Club to PCC for the duration.

After learning that shuttles are being planned for one Clark location only -- convenient to the Parkway, but no other major roadway -- the thought occurred to me that the Muhlenberg Hospital campus offers an ideal parking situation that seems to have been overlooked.

With very little use being made of its parking lots, there are hundreds of available spaces in a secure setting, handy to major routes, and less than a mile from the Plainfield Country Club.

With Solaris almost reduced to sending its senior staff out to play on street corners for pocket change, it's a wonder it didn't occur to anyone to try and make a couple of bucks off this asset.



-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe..

11 comments:

Bob said...

Why do we put up the this fool, Hellwig. What does he do to earn his large salary. It's a shame that Jerry and Sharon pushed this down our throats and got away with it. We need to speak out and get what we pay for.

RB said...

What a wasted opportunity, again.

Anonymous said...

It is also a shame that yet again, our administration cannot figure out how to capitalize on an opportunity.

Is she gone yet?

Ron said...

Once again our wonderful mayor drops the ball. This could have been a chance to showcase the city, make sure we were included in the planning and be in touch with Edison's mayor through the whole process. I wonder is she's even aware the tournament is going to be happening.

Anonymous said...

I doubt, given the current state of affairs in Plainfield, that anyone considered safe and Plainfield in the same sentence.

Deborah Dowe said...

Because they don't want anyone to see the jewel they describe as located in a crime ridden ghetto, just ask the early round of potential buyers.

All of us need to gas us and tour the area all day long everyday of this event and test the response times to all the local hospitals that were put forth in the State documents. Spend all day trying to get to all of the local hospitals. Think of it as self interest, you are already halfway to the hospital so if you or the vulnerable person in the back seat should take ill, you won't need an ambulance that may not be available.

Let's have a citizen disaster reponse drill and analyze our travel times and other relevant data. This would also be a good time to pus a baby carriage from the health center to all of the alternative hospitals. It could even be a race with teams and a prize.

Who wants to volunteer to push a baby carriage up the hill to Overlook?

Michael Townley said...

Don't know why Solaris didn't think of this - they've been involved to some extent in the planning for medical support services. They have a staffed tent on the property even now.

As to the City being left out of the loop, shouldn't the administration have inserted themselves into the planning? It's not as if no one knew the Barclay tournament was coming to the edge of town.

Anonymous said...

Yes, let's see: Welcome to Plainfield. Get shot at. Get mugged. Get robbed. Just like DQ did.

And yes, pay City Hall some money.

Hey Edison Mayor, why did you not come to Plainfield! How heavy handed of you!

Anonymous said...

It is unfortunate and bordering on incompetence,that the Plainfield City Officials, knowing this was coming, did not insist on being a part of the srategic planning. We are a neighboring town to the PCC, and MUCH closer than Clark. The parking lots at Muhlenburg would have been ideal for this event, in addition to generating revenue for Solaris which seems to be in need.

Anonymous said...

Habitat for Humanity - across the street from the Muhlenberg parking lot - offered to manage and supervise the lot, in exchange to raise funds for their work. They were told that the lot was going to already be used for the Barclays. I know that Habitat would still love to accommodate Barclays patrons with reasonable, convenient parking for the event :) - thus keeping the proceeds within the community to benefit Plainfield.

NP said...

Once again Plainfield has had a thumb print on history. FYI Plainfield resident, Leighton Calkins, in 1904 devised a handicap system for the PCC, and in 1911, the USGA used the Calkins system as the official handicapping system. He also coined the word par. He was Mayor of Plainfield, 1915-1920, and he is buried in Hillside Cemetery on the same rolling hills of PCC. Source: "The First 100 Years" PCC