Road project in Ridgewood causes traffic, concerns
MAY 23, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
Municipal officials maintain that an imminent street improvement project, when completed, will boost overall traffic safety and aesthetics in and around Garber and Wilsey squares. Several Ridgewood residents, however, contend that the finished job might have unintended and unwanted consequences.
Construction preparation is already underway for the Garber Square Complete Streets Project. This week, crews began cutting asphalt along Garber Square and will continue work on Ridgewood’s west side from Godwin Avenue to Franklin beneath the New Jersey Transit train trestle. In addition to a full paving job, the scope of the project includes the addition of bicycle lanes and a median island as well as the reduction to a single lane for each direction of traffic at the underpass.
In an informational letter distributed this week by Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld, she explained that the project is intended to address pedestrian safety at Garber Square and at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Broad Street.
“Pedestrians will more easily and safely walk to and from the train station elevator area along the street by the Pease Library,” according to the letter. “We are bumping out the curb at Franklin and North Broad Street to reduce the crosswalk length, while providing better visibility of pedestrians to motorists.”
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/transportation/road-project-causes-traffic-concerns-1.1022335#sthash.QS8t7g77.dpuf
Approaching the construction from the east side of the tracks by passing on Franklin through the light at Broad Street and under the train trestle, and bearing 90 degrees left at normal speed while in the outside lane, I found I did not have any warning that construction was occurring at that spot and that two lanes of traffic were being merged into one within about 20 feet from the bend.
I can’t be the only one who experienced this problem. The police or construction crews should put up signs visible from the west-bound lanes before the bend in the road to slow motorists down and reduce the risk of car accidents from the abrupt merge.
Everyone please think about this for a second…… That area is already a traffic nightmare. Try getting through there in the morning, during rush hour, or on a nice Saturday afternoon. You can’t. Now; we are looking at a doubling in the size of Valley Hospital = more traffic. We are looking at 3 large residential developments in down town Ridgewood = more traffic. We are looking at Valley building a large rehabilitation facility on the Ken Smith property = a lot more traffic (and a loss of tax revenue) We are looking at a possible assisted living facility and mixed use building right on Franklin Ave = more traffic, and with all of that already in the works, the geniuses that run this town are going to cut the traffic capacity of the only main thoroughfare thru downtown Ridgewood in half!?!?
You can’t make this stuff up. This has the potential to go down as one of the greatest mistakes ever in the Village of Ridgewood. Someone should make sure that all of this is documented and photographed so the Ridgewood Historian can capture this along with the photographs of the Council Members for the archives. The total cost should also be documented so that in 18 months after an emergency vehicle runs over a kid on a bicycle coming around the blind corner and the next Council decides to remove it, we’ll have an accounting of the total cost.
One other thing. When they did the detailed traffic study before deciding to do this, exactly how many cars passed under that bridge on a daily basis versus bicycles? Would be very helpful to have those numbers.
Thank Rutishauser for yet another lame project sure to waste taxpayer dollars and cause frustration.
This is circulating… decide for yourself
I just signed the petition “Ridgewood, NJ Village Council: Stop Work on Underpass Lane Closures until a Comprehensive Traffic Study is Done and Resident Input is Heard” on Change.org.
It’s important. Will you sign it too? Here’s the link:
https://www.change.org/petitions/ridgewood-nj-village-council-stop-work-on-underpass-lane-closures-until-a-comprehensive-traffic-study-is-done-and-resident-input-is-heard?recruiter=99797500&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
Please sign the petition to help add weight to the number of people hoping to stop this.
https://www.change.org/petitions/ridgewood-nj-village-council-stop-work-on-underpass-lane-closures-until-a-comprehensive-traffic-study-is-done-and-resident-input-is-heard?recruiter=13520668&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
While I can imagine the landscaping will be pleasant to look at with the additional inground irrigation system that was in the bid for the project, I can not imagine 7,000 vehicles cramming into one lane. I been travelling that route during the construction to view the cut lines and one person making a left at Godwin from Garber Square not only backs up the straight traffic, but now backups the right turning traffic which used to be able to freely move previously.
I think the award they got for the medium on Grove is going to the Village’s heads.
yea this is all bull shit, what the hell is the manager talking about. she don’t know shit about this stuff. go back to the bank.
I think they should keep it two lanes like every other street in the village.
The Honeymoon must be over. Dam the torpedoes full speed ahead. The Three Amigos and their hand pick spokes person don’t have a clue. Just remember the majority of the West side resident voted for them.
so. True. But it looks good on paper right nerds
Time for some traffic problems in Ridgewood.