|
Residents Fight City Hall, Get Birchwood Park Plans Changed
By Catherine Snipe
Three or four years ago, you may have been mailed a survey. For residents of Birchwood Park, that was the only notification that the township would be reconstructing their roads and changing traffic patterns.
Residents came out to council meetings last year to decry the lack of notification after new traffic patterns were put in place.
Business Administrator Scott Pezzaras said in the case of such projects, a letter will be sent to affected residents notifying them of projects in their area.
"It wouldn't be so long prior to the construction," Pezzares said.
In the case of the Birchwood Park project, it was a process that began several years before the project broke ground. Then, to some residents, the construction "suddenly appeared" years later.
Now, Pezzaras said, departments such as the Neighborhood Preservation Program, which earns grants to fund projects such as traffic improvements, will serve as another layer of communication.
"There will be an open line of communication," he said. The NPP works with the community to see which areas need improvement and to publicize the schedule of projects, too, he said.
In the case of Birchwood Park, its residents came out in force to township council meetings, urging the township to stop work on a traffic-calming circle project in their neighborhood, saying they were not aware it would be taking place. The construction is at the intersection of Sprucewood and Ashwood drives.
As a result of resident complaints, the township then ordered contractor L&L Paving Company, Tinton Falls, to stop work. They were concerned the circular pattern would be hard to plow during a snowstorm, and would slow emergency vehicles unnecessarily.
The project is designed to slow cars by putting a circle in the middle of the roadway. Vehicles must slow down to navigate through the curved portions.
As a result of the concerns of residents, the township re-evaluated what the project should look like. In the end, the rotary was removed, but teardropped-shaped traffic patterns and additional curbing went in instead.
The idea is still to slow traffic driving through that area, Pezzaras said.
The delay to the project added to its total bill, which the township council approved at its meeting this week. The cost grew by about $4,600 to a total of $80,600.
The construction is now complete, crews are done with the work, according to Pezzaras. And the changes seem to have paid off.
"Afterward, we had one complaint," Pezzaras said. "That's it."
| 
