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State Officials Now Studying Route 70 Traffic
By Catherine Galioto
Bottlenecks, bumper to bumper, and sharp slowdowns: just some of the traffic conditions the township council and residents continue to bemoan.
The problem is, the traffic jams are on a state road, Route 70, which is under state control, not the township. With that in mind, township officials are trying new tactics to get the state to improve the area. The council and administration has gone so far as to say they would pay for needed projects out of the municipal pocket, and then seek reimbursement from the state Department of Transportation (DOT).
Now, the DOT is in town -- but the agency is not here to add construction crews. Bureaucracy moves slower than that.
Instead, the DOT is studying exactly how bad the traffic conditions are. The state is meeting with officials, taking resident comments, and has traffic counters out along Route 70 and its adjoining roadways.
The goal, according to the state, is to develop a program of coordinated land use and transportation improvements that will accommodate while also deal with traffic problems.
Councilmen Dan Toth and Joseph Sangiovanni met with the state officials to learn more about this study and to offer input.
Sangiovanni said the purpose is not to fix current problems. That could leave future problems to find their way in and bring the township right back where it is now. Instead, the state is trying to figure out what the future of Brick's roadways looks like, and anticipate how new construction, growing population and existing structures will work together and create a traffic infrastructure to meet those demands, Sangiovanni said.
"They want to figure out what we are growing into," he said.
Councilwoman Kathy Russell said she has been noticing work crews out counting cars and measuring traffic backup.
"I've seen them in the morning, measuring with a tape measure how far back from the red light the cars are waiting," she said.
Since that began recently, the state also held a public meeting to gather resident and commuter input.
The state meeting will be part of the Study Advisory Committee, solicit input on is- sues of concern, develop initial goals and objectives for the study, and tour the study area. Over a series of four public meetings in all, the advisory committee will present the data gathered, including traffic analysis and "smart growth" options.
Originally, the township council planned to pay upfront for improvements totaling $2.2 million. The idea was that the township could put the wheels in motion faster than the state. But then after meetings with state officials, the township learned the state would take on the projects.
The question at last week's could meeting remained the same: would the state complete the projects soon enough?
Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro said it was nice that the state was getting involved, but wondered how much of a commitment to construction the process was. Instead, it was more talk and less a commitment of resources, she said.
The primary focus of the Route 70 improvements would be the area leading up to the Brick Boulevard and Cedarbridge Avenue intersection.
Council President Stephen Acropolis said the idea is to target this "missing mile" of Route 70.
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