Widening Road Will Change One Moorestown Neighborhood For The Worse, Residents Say

MOORESTOWN — Moorestown residents recently succeeded in getting council to postpone a decision on widening McElwee Road.

The proposed McElwee Road project would likely also include repairing drains, installing guardrails, fixing potholes, and other components that are very similar to what was done with Garwood Road, Kevin Aberant, township manager, said at a recent council meeting.

“When Garwood Road was done, [the New Jersey Department of Transportation] put white lines — they refer to them as fog lines — and then periodically in the middle of the street they put the little reflectors that get embedded,” Aberant said.

McElwee Road residents at the meeting said it is the widening of the road that has them most concerned. The mentioning of Garwood seemed to concern them even more.

“We have witnessed what has happened on Garwood. It was also a very scenic place with a lot of empty spaces,” said Peter Kronk.

“I don't know anyone that lives in our community that would like to make [McElwee] a high traffic area or even higher speeds than they are now. We would continue to like to have turkeys and eagles as our neighbors,” he continued.

Wetlands and waterways that are part of the Rancocas Creek system would also be negatively impacted, according to several residents at the meeting.

Another resident, Frank Brady, expressed concern that although there are no plans to officially change the speed limit on McElwee Road, the widening of the road will still cause that effect.

“Anytime you increase the width, there's going to be an increase in speed,” Brady said. “We've got young families and a lot of people walking [on the road.]”

Based on remarks made at the meeting, there may be some leeway in what Moorestown can do with the grant money that was earmarked for McElwee Road.

“Hearing the concerns, I can see if [New Jersey State Department of Transportation employee] Schine wants to attend a future council meeting and perhaps answer some more questions,” Aberant said.

Council agreed with Aberant’s suggestion.

Thus, a final decision on what to do about McElwee Road was postponed until at least the next Moorestown Council meeting, which is scheduled for April 11.

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