Letter: Valley expansion will negatively impact village life
Friday June 7, 2013, 11:19 AM
The Ridgewood News
Valley expansion will negatively impact village life
To the editor:
For the last several weeks, Valley Hospital’s hired experts have been presenting their sales pitches before the Planning Board. Unfortunately, little has changed since the Village Council unanimously voted down Valley’s expansion plans in 2011.
Indeed, the hospital still aims to build a regional medical center of unprecedented size, nearly doubling its current bulk, in a neighborhood of three schools, single-family homes and playing fields. Buildings will tower 94 feet above us, dump trucks will make thousands of trips, and 300,000 gallons of groundwater per day will be pumped, likely into the flood-prone Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, near Graydon. This project will take many years to complete. Yes, it is dejà-vu all over again.
Traffic and safety are major concerns. While there are many dangerous intersections in Ridgewood, only one is traversed by hundreds of children every single day, and that is the intersection of Linwood and N. Van Dien, precisely where Valley hopes to build a multi-level parking garage. Hospital officials would like us to believe that trucks and heavy machinery will have no effect on our children or the neighborhood, as plans to add a lane to Linwood Avenue, with a bus turnout, have been discussed. And just in case your child doesn’t quite make it across the street, a traffic “refuge” island will be built to accommodate her.
Few of us are comforted by the image of a child stuck in the middle of Linwood Avenue as trucks and impatient drivers whiz by. Anyone who believes that traffic lights will always be obeyed doesn’t understand the culture of children. Our crossing guards are reliable, but their hours are limited (they are not present during sports activities), and they work alone.
This letter is right on the money. The truth is that very few people living in this town will ever benefit from what Valley is asking for.
The only certainty is that everyone who lives in Ridgewood will,in one way,shape or form, pay for it.
We already pay for it. How much do we pay our police and fire to rest fire alarms at Valley, provide EMS, and to make sure he access ways around Valley are clear during storms and Hurricane damage ? How much will we pay in police overtime making sure those 8,000+ truckloads of dirt don’t create problems at intersections like Linwood and N. Van Dien ? Why can’t we have a fee schedule with Valley, ie. every time our Fire dept resets an alarm, Valley pays the VoR $100 ? Surely they should help the taxpayers of Ridgewood offset the cost of these services ?