Camden's revitalization continues with road barrier to prevent jaywalking

CAMDEN, NJ (WTXF) - Camden is in the middle of a major revitalization and with more people comes what many say is a big problem a stretch of road that's gotten dangerous.

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Take it from a bus driver who travels Cooper Street daily. The corridor needs help. And, it appears, help is on the way with a major makeover from Haddon Avenue to the waterfront.

Home to several thousand grade school and college students the street has pedestrians constantly darting out in traffic, cars bottlenecking, a lane closed by the courthouse for security reasons and an irregular median that causes lane shifts and dangerous driving.

Just ask a biker.

"You see one lane over there, but you've got at least three cars worth of space and what that tells people who are driving is I can serve around, I can go as fast as I need to--to get there," biker Bill Green said.

It's exactly what you don't want if you're in the business of bringing in business and Camden is. With 3 billion dollars in economic development underway and a thousand new jobs coming to the waterfront, fixing this main thoroughfare is a key to Camden's future.

'It's gonna make a tremendous difference. I mean, as you see, there are pedestrians right now crossing mid-block. We want to make it safe, but also efficient for people and then improve the street-scape," Coopers Ferry Partnership Manager Kathy Cullen said.

More lanes are coming so are more trees and an iron gate down the middle that will keep pedestrians from jaywalking. Synchronized traffic lights and a quicker way to to turn off the Ben Franklin Bridge to get here--all aimed at keeping Camden's momentum going.

If all moves as planned, construction will begin in the fall and be completed next spring.