Ramp rage in Morris Township: County blames locals for jamming proposed interchange at Route 24/Columbia Turnpike

Proposed realigned Route 24/ Columbia Turnpike interchange, 2020.
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There is ramp rage in Morris Township. And the ramp hasn’t even been built yet.

The Morris County Commissioners on Thursday blamed Morris Township for wrecking plans to “remedy dangerous traffic problems” at the Route 24 / Columbia Turnpike interchange.

Township Mayor Jeff Grayzel fired back that they were lousy plans that would have exacerbated local traffic woes.

In their statement, the commissioners said the Township’s refusal to submit a letter of support last week has scuttled a “unique opportunity” to secure federal aid for preliminary engineering, design and right of way acquisition.

That means an “indefinite delay” in a project backed by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th Dist.) and officials in Florham Park and Hanover.

“Regrettably … the window of opportunity has since closed,” said the Republican commissioners.

No objections were raised to the March 2020 realignment proposed by the state Department of Transportation, they said. All participants had understood they would get chances to pitch changes as design phases unfolded.

Grayzel, a Democrat running for state Senate, countered with his own statement:

“It is Morris Township’s firm belief that the proposed $6-10 million ramp does not alleviate the biggest problem caused by the multiple issues on Park Avenue, which is the traffic impact to Madison, Chatham Township, and Chatham Borough,” he said.

The project also would hinder Morris Township residents from accessing their homes, he said, and possibly create new traffic issues by causing cars exiting Columbia Turnpike to cross two lanes on Park Avenue to access a proposed ramp to Route 24.

Grayzel questioned the county’s shift of that ramp from Hanover to Florham Park, potentially impeding travel for residents of Delaware Road in Florham Park and Morris Township.

A better solution, he suggested, would be an exit/entry ramp from Route 24 to  Campus Drive in Florham Park.

“Morris Township continues to support a better-planned, long-term solution benefiting all the communities seeing the immediate impacts of these traffic problems rather than fast-tracking a modified plan that appears to benefit one party,” wrote Grayzel.

Full statements follow.

From the Morris County Board of Commissioners:

Route 24 & Columbia Turnpike Interchange Project Indefinitely Delayed

We want to thank the Borough of Florham Park, the Township of Hanover and U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill for their steadfast support of our effort to secure federal funding for the multi-million dollar plan to remedy dangerous traffic problems at the Route 24 and Columbia Turnpike Interchange.  It is with significant disappointment that we must announce an indefinite delay in moving forward because the unique opportunity to secure that federal aid, specifically for preliminary engineering, design and right of way acquisition phases, was lost last week.

Until recently, this critical project had the support of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), Morris County and all towns impacted by the congestion and accidents at the interchange, and no objections were raised in the year since the NJDOT presented a preferred realignment plan in March 2020. We all understood the design phases would provide every opportunity for everyone to express concerns and to recommend changes at future public hearings to the NJDOT preferred plan. Regrettably, Morris Township refused to provide a letter of support last week that was crucial to our effort to secure federal aid through Congress.  The window of opportunity has since closed.”

From Morris Township Mayor Jeff Grayzel:

Statement from Mayor Grayzel on Route 24 Proposal

As mayor of Morris Township, I represented my municipality in April 2019 at a roundtable discussion of elected officials relating to deteriorating traffic issues on Park Avenue. On the dais at that meeting were Representative Mikie Sherrill, several of our State Legislators and County Commissioners, several representatives of NJDOT, and Mayor Conley as host of the meeting in his town.

The majority of the discussion during this April 2019 meeting focused on the increasing vehicular volume on Park Avenue, the deteriorating traffic conditions, and the failing mark of the signalized intersection with Columbia Turnpike. Testimony from the mayors of Madison, Chatham Township and Chatham Borough addressed the ramifications of the traffic standstill on Park Avenue that reverberated into those towns. Due to the traffic problems on Park Avenue (northbound) at rush hour, cars were heading the other way on Park Avenue and clogging the streets of those three municipalities to the south. Also brought up for discussion during this meeting were the traffic conflicts for cars exiting Route 24 and having to cross over lanes of traffic to make a left turn onto Park Avenue.

It is Morris Township’s firm belief that the proposed $6-10 million ramp does not alleviate the biggest problem caused by the multiple issues on Park Avenue, which is the traffic impact to Madison, Chatham Township, and Chatham Borough. Further, this proposed solution impacts Morris Township residents from accessing their homes and has the potential to create a whole new “crossover traffic” problem as cars coming off Columbia Turnpike will now need to cross two lanes on Park Avenue (in a very short distance) to access the newly proposed ramp to Route 24. During the morning rush, this crossover pattern literally has the potential of completely blocking traffic on Park Avenue heading southbound from Columbia Turnpike. In summary, the current proposal is a sub-optimal solution that likely will just cause new problems for our residents and any vehicle attempting to access Route 24 eastbound in the morning rush.

Further, it is unclear why the County Commissioners decided to move the location of the ramp from its originally sited location proposed for a vacant lot at 190 Park Avenue in Hanover, but mysteriously shifted location to south of the Hanover border to its current proposed location in an existing parking lot of an office building in Florham Park. The public deserves an explanation of what caused this shift and a further explanation of how residents of both Florham Park and Morris Township who live on Delaware Road can safely access their homes with a ramp sited directly across from their street.

Morris Township prefers to find sensible solutions to the problems facing our communities and feels that this modified proposal does not adequately provide relief for commuters on Park Avenue and the streets of our neighboring municipalities to the south. Morris Township continues to support a better-planned, long-term solution benefiting all the communities seeing the immediate impacts of these traffic problems rather than fast-tracking a modified plan that appears to benefit one party.

Furthermore, we believe a better solution to the current proposal would be to install an exit/entry ramp from Route 24 to connect to Campus Drive in Florham Park. Building a new ramp that would access the central area of Park Avenue would be a much better use of public funding rather than the sub-optimal approach currently under consideration.

I am hopeful that a federal allocation of general infrastructure improvement funding could include money to do the detailed engineering work necessary as a first step to implementing the better solution of accessing route 24 via Campus Drive that addresses all of the problems facing Park Avenue and more importantly addresses the concerns of all affected municipalities.

 

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Good call by Grayzel. Looking for a real solution rather than ramming through some half-baked solution!

  2. Thank-you Mayor for an informed and principled decision. New roads are not always “improvements” and growth is not always smart growth.

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