Route 17 - Page 10 of 10 - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on November 12, 2015 November 12, 2015

Route 17 traffic tie-ups Never End

file photo by Boyd Loving

Road Warrior: Rte. 17’s sad, never-ending song

NOVEMBER 12, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
THE RECORD

Ping!

As anyone with one foot on the gas pedal and an eye on the GPS knows, that sound is technology’s quaint way of telling us there’s traffic congestion ahead – a turn of events that can make grown-ups talk back to their global positioning systems.

“Tell me something I didn’t know,” I told the noisy little screen on my dashboard.

When you drive on Route 17, you expect such things. It was Monday and my Honda and I were approaching the Garden State Parkway in Paramus where crews were toiling at revising a connection that might someday make moving between these two asphalt marvels the kind of safer, seamless driving experience it should be.

But no, this wasn’t the sour song that my GPS was singing or pinging about. This backup was centered on the Ridgewood Avenue exits where a new restaurant is being built. It’s the same location that a persistent caller, Richard Compagnone, had been telling me about.

“In 55 years of driving, I can’t remember a construction job so small taking so long,” said Compagnone. “What’s going on?”

On the surface, what’s going on is a relatively small job to build a Panera Bread sandwich shop and connect it to necessary pipes and wires. But what was really going on was a tiny example of the daily delays and heart-pounding danger that, according to reader feedback, easily make Route 17 Bergen County’s least-favorite highway. Spurred by low gas prices and population growth, this north-south artery is experiencing some retail growth and even heavier-than-usual traffic.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/rte-17-backups-seem-worse-than-ever-1.1453819

Posted on October 25, 2015 January 21, 2019

What’s the future for suburban office space in Anti Business New Jersey ?

file photo Boyd Loving

OCTOBER 25, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

What do you do with a big, isolated office building that no one wants anymore?

It’s a question being asked around New Jersey as giant office parks — built along highways when the suburbs boomed in the second half of the 20th century — sit empty or half-empty while corporations shrink their footprints and younger workers look for a more urban, transit-friendly buzz.

In northern Bergen County, for example, A&P, Mercedes-Benz USA, Hertz and Pearson have left or soon will leave offices built in the 1970s and 1980s, when corporations headed out of the cities for greener suburbs.

“There was a whole movement toward beautiful, idyllic campuses, but the workforce today wants to be in an urban hub,” said Andrew Merin, vice chairman with Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate firm with offices in East Rutherford.

As a result, “each of these properties is going to have to invent its own future,” said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers.

Some of these properties are destined for the wrecking ball — including the former Pearson building in Upper Saddle River, owned by Mack-Cali, New Jersey’s largest office landlord, which is fighting to build housing on the site.

Others will be redeveloped. The most striking example is the ambitious, multimillion-dollar renovation of the old Bell Labs in Holmdel into Bell Works, a mixed-use property that aims to turn the landmark building’s giant atrium into an indoor Main Street with an “urban” vibe.

Whatever their fates, it’s clear that many of the state’s large, 30- or 40-year-old buildings will no longer function as home to a single corporate user. And, experts say, municipal officials who depended on those corporations — and their big property-tax payments — need to make another plan.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/big-office-buildings-look-to-reinvent-themselves-1.1440856

Posted on September 3, 2015 January 20, 2019

Route 17 to be Closed in Both Directions from 12am to 4am Friday September 4th in Paramus at Garden State Parkway Entrance

file photo by Boyd Loving
Fri 9/4 from 12:01A until 4A – RTE 17 CLOSED – Both Directions: for GS Parkway work. Detours posted.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the New Jersey State Department of Transportation advise that Route 17 at the Garden State Parkway (Paramus) will be closed in both directions on Friday morning, September 4th, from 12:01 a.m. until 4 a.m. due to the ongoing Garden State Parkway Interchange 163 Improvement Project.

The detour will be via Farview Avenue between Century Road and Midland Avenue in both directions.

There will be lane closures starting at 9 p.m. on Thursday, September 3rd, until 6 a.m. Friday morning, September 4th. Also, expect exit ramp closures on the parkway at Exit 163 in both directions during the full closure of Route 17.

Posted on July 17, 2015 January 21, 2019

A year after death of Waldwick cop, colleagues continue to chase down speeders on Route 17

file photo Boyd Loving
JULY 16, 2015, 7:41 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015, 11:00 PM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD

While eyeballing cars from a shoulder on Route 17, police usually don’t get too excited by speeds that inch past the 55-mph limit. But when a jet-black Jeep shot by his cruiser at 79 mph this week, a Waldwick cop hit the gas pedal for a short chase that yielded a skittish speeder with a sense of humor.

“He told me it’s scary out here,” Sgt. Bob Woessner said moments later as he wrote a ticket. “He wondered how we do this each night.”

Sgt. Robert Woessner pulls over a speeding car on Route 17 south, close to the spot where Waldwick Officer Chris Goodell was killed after a tractor-trailer slammed into his police car one year ago.

The speeder might as well have been preaching to the choir. As he does most nights, Woessner was using radar to chase down speeders on a busy stretch of 17 where scariness reached a new threshold just one year ago today when a tractor-trailer slammed into a police cruiser carrying a colleague who was also pulling radar duty there. Patrolman Chris Goodell, 32, the sergeant’s close friend, was killed instantly.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/road-warrior-a-year-after-death-of-waldwick-cop-colleagues-continue-to-chase-down-speeders-on-route-17-1.1375779

Posted on April 6, 2015 April 6, 2015

Concrete falls from Route 17 overhead walkway; DOT declares Ridgewood site safe for traffic

file photo Boyd Loving

APRIL 4, 2015, 8:47 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015, 9:00 PM
BY RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — The state Department of Transportation says a pedestrian walkway over Route 17 is safe enough to allow cars to pass under it, following an emergency inspection on Saturday afternoon prompted by chunks of concrete falling onto the road.

DOT spokesman Steve Schapiro said there was “no immediate danger of collapse” at the walkway, which crosses Route 17 just south of Racetrack Road and connects to the Park and Ride on the southbound side of the highway. Schapiro said a DOT crew arrived and picked up the debris, and conducted a brief inspection to make sure it was safe. A more thorough inspection will be done on Monday, he said.

“They took a look and determined there was no immediate danger,” he said. “We’ll be sending a crew out on Monday to take a look at what needs to be done.”

Chunks of concrete fell onto the northbound side of Route 17 around 12:30 p.m., and drivers reported damage to two cars, police said. Ridgewood police and firefighters rushed to the scene and, using pike poles, pulled down a layer of loose concrete from the central pillar that supports the walkway. Two of the northbound lanes were closed to traffic for about 40 minutes, police said.

Ridgewood Fire Capt. Scott Schmidt said the concrete that peeled off was the outer layer of one of the pillars that support the walkway. Schmidt referred to it as a “skin coat” that likely was weakened by the combination of moisture and road salt. “Road salt and concrete don’t really go well together,” he said.

Unable to dispose of the debris, firefighters piled chunks of concrete onto the left shoulder of the road and summoned the DOT. “We responded, and it made it as safe as possible before re-opening the road,” Schmidt said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/concrete-falls-from-route-17-overhead-walkway-dot-declares-ridgewood-site-safe-for-traffic-1.1302888

Posted on January 20, 2015 January 20, 2015

Temporary cell tower returns to Ridgewood location on Route 17

file photo Boyd Loving

Temporary cell tower returns to Ridgewood location on Route 17

JANUARY 19, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015, 2:04 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The recently removed temporary cell tower that overlooked the Exxon Mobil station along Route 17 is returning.

The Ridgewood Zoning Board of Adjustment on Jan. 13 granted a five-month extension to a previously approved resolution that allowed AT&T to install and operate a temporary tower at the site. Dubbed a cell on wheels (COW), a tower is needed in that location to provide customers with seamless coverage of the latest network technology, as required by the Federal Communications Commission, company representatives said.

During last Tuesday’s hearing, zoning board members discussed few details of the extension but verified that the terms of the original resolution would be in effect through the length of the extension.

“Bring back the COW exactly how it was,” said Bruce Whitaker, zoning board attorney.

Last June, the board approved AT&T’s original application to install the trailer-mounted, 75-foot cell tower at the service station site.

A board resolution included terms for required setbacks, shielding and operation, among other details, and stated that the equipment would be removed on or before Dec. 31, 2014.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/temporary-cell-tower-moves-back-to-ridgewood-spot-1.1226591

Posted on January 14, 2015 January 14, 2015

Strip mall with Starbucks rising on Route 17 in Ridgewood

Strip mall with Starbucks rising on Route 17 in Ridgewood

JANUARY 13, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015, 8:06 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

A strip mall that will house a Starbucks café and seven other retail and restaurant tenants is taking shape on Route 17 in Ridgewood, one of the first ground-up, new construction, retail centers in recent memory.

The project is rising on a former vacant plot near the intersection of southbound Route 17 and Linwood Avenue. The owner of the land, Malvern Burroughs, has been trying to develop the property since the 1980s, and received approval for the 15,000-square-foot retail center in November 2013.

The structure is expected to be completed in late spring, with store openings in the fall, said Laurence Liebowitz of Landmark Real Estate, which is leasing the center.

Installation of the brick-and-limestone façade of the building is expected to begin Jan. 15, Liebowitz said.

While there have been numerous redevelopments of retail properties on Route 17 over the past decade, a brand-new retail center on formerly vacant land is uncommon. Burroughs had proposed other uses for the land, including townhouse apartments and an office building, but could not win approval for those projects from the Ridgewood Planning Board.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/strip-mall-with-starbucks-rising-on-route-17-in-ridgewood-1.1191854

Posted on July 17, 2014 January 21, 2019

Waldwick police officer Christopher Goodell killed in crash on Route 17

Waldwick Police Officers Brian Finale and Chris Goodell (Courtesy WALDWICK PD).

Waldwick police officer Christopher Goodell killed in crash on Route 17

Originally published: July 17, 2014 5:25 AM
Updated: July 17, 2014 6:35 AM

WALDWICK – Authorities say a police officer in northern New Jersey has died in a traffic accident.

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli says the Waldwick police officer was operating radar on Route 17 when a tractor-trailer rear-ended his unmarked police car just before 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

Waldwick Police Chief Mark Messner identified the officer as 32-year-old Christopher Goodell. He was a five-year veteran of the department. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years.

https://newjersey.news12.com/news/prosecutor-waldwick-police-officer-struck-killed-by-tractor-trailer-on-route-17-1.8828279?cmpid=News_12_New_Jersey_Breaking_News_Alert__newsletter

Posted on May 10, 2014 May 10, 2014

Jeep flips on Route 17 in Ridgewood – Driver not seriously hurt

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Jeep flips on Route 17 in Ridgewood – Driver not seriously hurt
May10 ,2014
Boyd A. Loving
3:51 PM

Ridgewood NJ, The male driver of a 2005 Jeep Cherokee escaped serious injury after his vehicle flipped on its side in Ridgewood at approximately 1:00 PM on Saturday, 05/10. The incident occurred on the entrance ramp from Paramus Road northbound to Route 17 northbound. Ridgewood PD, EMS and FD all responded to the scene. The vehicle was righted and removed by flatbed tow truck. The entrance ramp from northbound Paramus Road to northbound Route 17 was closed until the vehicle was righted and removed.

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving

Posted on March 28, 2014 March 28, 2014

Overturned dump truck Route 17 Ridgewood Closes down 17 South

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Overturned dump truck Route 17 Ridgewood Closes down 17 South
March 28, 2014
Boyd A. Loving
10:43 AM

Ridgewood NJ, A dump truck carrying a full load of dirt overturned on Route 17 southbound under the Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood overpass on Friday morning. The driver was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital Ridgewood for evaluation.

Route 17 Southbound was completely closed between Paramus Road and Linwood Avenue while crews worked to remove spilled debris, right the truck, and tow it away. There was rubbernecking in the northbound lanes. Response by multiple agencies including Ridgewood PD, FD, Emergency Services, NJ State DOT, Ridgewood Public Works & Engineering, and Ridgewood Emergency Services.

Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving

Posted on February 17, 2014 February 17, 2014

The “rogue” cell tower on Route 17 is gone.

The “rogue” cell tower on Route 17 is gone.

Not only was the roughly 100-foot tower placed there without approval, but no one on the zoning board, the approval entity for cell towers, was aware of it until last week.

https://theridgewoodblog.net/new-cell-tower-pops-up-in-ridgewood-without-approvalnew-cell-tower-pops-up-in-ridgewood-without-approval/