Mayor’s Column


Last week, I urged you to get outdoors and enjoy our Voorhees parks. This week, I encourage you to hop on your bicycle and ride the Voorhees bike path system.

There are 16.6 miles of bike paths in our Township. We have more miles of bike path than any other municipality in Camden County. The Voorhees Township Bicycle and Pedestrian Pathway Committee works hard to promote our bike paths and bike safety for the benefit of our community.

Existing bike paths in Voorhees include Centennial Blvd. from Old Egg Harbor Road to Evesham Road, Kresson Road from Cooper Road to Route 73, Victor Blvd. from Cooper Road to Haddonfield-Berlin Road, Regency Drive to Dutchtown Road, Dutchtown Road through Lions Lake Park, Lucas Lane from Britton Place to White Horse Road, Laurel Oak Road from Haddonfield-Berlin Road connecting to Centennial Blvd. via the path in front of Eastern High School, Cooper Road from Centennial Blvd. to the Berlin Township border, Somerdale Road from Burnt Mill Road to Evesham Road and the entire length of Kirkwood/Gibbsboro Road.

Virtua has installed bike paths on its medical campus on Route 73 which connect to Dutchtown Road and Lions Lake Park.

A map of the Township bike paths is available at Town Hall or on our website at www.voorheesnj.com under the Maps link.

The Township Committee continues to apply for grants to fund the improvements and expansion of our bike paths throughout the Township and region. We recently completed the striping of Kirkwood/Gibbsboro Road incorporating bicycle lanes as part of the County’s paving project of this road. This work added 2 miles of useful bike lanes We will continue to work with surrounding communities to connect our bike and pedestrian paths.

More and more people are biking. Buses now have bike racks on the front and trains allow riders to bring bikes on board. The Voorhees Township Police Department has a bike patrol that tours the municipality when weather permits.

Voorhees is a member of the Cross County Connection, an organization working with the state to foster transportation alternatives. Visit their website at www.driveless.com to gain access to interactive bicycle maps throughout South Jersey. The web site will allow you to put in your starting and ending addresses and give you bike path information for your journey. It also provides information about existing and proposed bike paths in the area.

The Township Committee would like to thank Rick Ricciardi, the former chairman of the Bike Path Committee for his 15 years of service. Anyone interested in becoming involved with the Voorhees Township Bicycle and Pedestrian Pathway Committee should call the Township at 856-428-5914. Many thanks to this Committee for helping make Voorhees a bicycle-friendly community.

Enjoy your ride!

** The Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation Wine and Food Tasting will be held on Friday, March 16 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Virtua Barry Brown Education Building, 106 Carnie Boulevard in Voorhees. Ticket donations are $50 per person in advance or $60 per person at the door. For reservations, call 856-784-0615 or visit www.victoriuosfoundation.org. The foundation installs Teen Centers in hospitals throughout the country to bring hope, excitement and entertainment to teens facing difficult conditions while receiving hospital treatment.

**The Voorhees Township public schools now have a mobile app which will provide calendars, newsfeeds, social media feeds, lunch balances, menus and directories. Parents and guardians will receive an email from your child’s school with login instructions. Anyone can download the mobile app but only those with login credentials can access student information. Download Voorhees Township PS from the app store.