Route 88 Wawa Left-Turn Traffic Fix Included In Popeyes Plan In Brick

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Adjustment approved an application Wednesday night to replace a proposed bank with a Popeyes Louisiana Chicken next to the Wawa on Route 88.

The approval, by a 4-3 vote, comes with two conditions: getting the township to vacate a paper street that borders the property on the east side, and getting approval from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to end left turns at the Wawa driveway that has been a thorn in the side of neighboring residents and town officials for a year.

The Route 88 Wawa driveway has been a source of complaints since just days after that store opened a year ago, because of traffic backups that block Jack Martin Boulevard as people try to turn left into the store from the eastbound lane.

There have been 11 motor vehicle crashes resulting in injuries attributed to that entrance since it opened, Tara Paxton, Brick Township planner, said Wednesday night.

That driveway will become a right-turn in, right-turn out, if the NJDOT approves of the change, said Matt Seckler of Stonefield Engineering, the traffic engineer for the developer, JSM at Martin Boulevard.

Seckler said Stonefield spent about 20 hours at the Wawa site studying the traffic patterns and witnessing the problems at the main driveway.

While zoning board members expressed concerns about Popeyes drawing more traffic and adding to an already frustrating situation, Seckler said the issue is not so much volume as it is the physical limitations of the area where that driveway sits.

It is less than 200 feet from the Jack Martin intersection and left turns — both into the Wawa and out onto Route 88 — are difficult because of the steady flow of traffic coming west on Route 88, Seckler said. In addition, the shoulder at that point is just 3-1/2 feet wide, and a utility pole makes it impossible for cars or trucks to squeeze by on the right.

Changing that driveway to right turns only in and out will eliminate that backup, Seckler said. It also would, over time, train drivers to use the other entrances and exits to the site, he said.

(Article continues below the photo)

While professionals for JSM at Martin Boulevard said they believed the Popeyes would draw primarily from pass-by traffic, board members said they believed that underestimated the impact the restaurant would have on traffic.

That possibility was the biggest concern of the lone resident who attended the zoning board meeting.

"The Wawa is an epic fail," said Vicki Fabricky, who lives nearby, calling it a disruption for the entire community within a 2- to 3-mile radius of the store. "It is a dumpster fire."

"The residents of Laurelton Heights feel as if they are prisoners in their own development. You can't get in or out, unless it's 2 a.m.," Fabricky said. She said she had encouraged other residents to come to the hearing but they refused and called it a waste of time.

"They feel like they have no say, that everything they say is falling on deaf ears," she said, expressing dismay at the lack of attendance.

Fabricky said the driveway issue should be fixed before the Popeyes approval was granted.

"Even their professionals said yes, this is going to create more traffic than a bank would. How about we get a solution first?" she said. "This is serious. I feel like if you don't live near there you don't know."

The NJDOT had asked the Brick Township Council to pass a resolution to ban left turns at that driveway on Nov. 23, 2021, Mayor John G. Ducey said at the time, and the council passed the resolution that night. The no-left turn signs have never materialized, however. Read more: Left-Turn Ban Coming At Route 88 Wawa In Brick

The right-turns-only driveway — which would have a raised island to prevent drivers from making the left turn anyway — would force drivers leaving the Wawa and Popeyes to use either the exit onto Jack Martin Boulevard, which would allow them to go east on Route 88 at the traffic signal, or the driveway that opens onto Route 88 at the east end of the property.

"I think once you limit this (the main driveway to right turns only), the obvious answer will be for drivers to go to the Jack Martin exit," Seckler said. He said it would improve even more as people get used to using the other driveways.

The driveway change was not likely to simply move the traffic backup farther east on Route 88, Seckler said in response to a board member's question, That's because the shoulder is wider at the other driveway, which allows vehicles to pass ones stopped to turn left. In addition, the driveway at the far end is nearly 700 feet from the Jack Martin Boulevard intersection, where the problematic driveway is less than 200 feet.

Joe Fishinger of Bright View Engineering, Brick Township's traffic engineer, said he believes the NJDOT will approve the change to the Wawa driveway because drivers have other options to leave the site. If the NJDOT refuses to allow the driveway change, the Popeyes will not be permitted to move forward under the conditional approval.

The second condition of the approval, getting Astin Road vacated by the township, was something that has been in the works for a while, Paxton said. She expects it to be resolved soon.

Have a comment, a question or a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com.