Turnpike Authority Plans to Move Forward with GSP 168 Project Despite Objections

New Jersey Turnpike Authority officials plan to proceed with a project to make changes at Garden State Parkway exit 168, even though local officials have expressed concerns.

NJTA Assistant Chief Engineer Robert Fischer sent a letter to Township Engineer Paul Azzolina dated Aug. 11 responding to his comments on the project. In the nine-page letter, Fischer addressed Azzolina's concerns and provided reasons why the current plans to widen the exit ramp and make other changes would work.

Azzolina attended the July 25 council meeting and . He said he opposed changing the stop sign to a yield at the end of the exit ramp, favored a 90-degree angle orientation for the turn at the end of the ramp and wanted to make the area more pedestrian friendly, among others. He also said he agreed with government officials that allowing motorists to make a right hand turn off exit 171 would alleviate much of the traffic concerns in the township.

Fischer said changing the stop sign to a yield at the end of the widened ramp would allow cars to pass through the area more quickly but wouldn't cause high speed crashes because of the design.

He wrote in the letter "the radius of the right-turn slip ramp was reduced, requiring vehicles to significantly reduce their speed before proceeding onto eastbound Washington Avenue. Therefore, vehicles would not be entering Washington Avenue at a high rate of speed." He added that there would be an acceleration lane which would give motorists time to enter the regular flow of traffic.

According to Fischer, constructing a 90-degree orientation of the turn would be problematic for larger vehicles like buses and would require a traffic signal, which officials have opposed. A traffic light at the end of the ramp was scrapped from an earlier plan.

In the letter, Fischer explained that adding sidewalks and crosswalks isn't feasible for several reasons. He wrote that the heavy vegetation would have to be removed to construct sidewalks, requiring the state Department of Environmental Protection involvement, and the utility lines on the north side of Washington Avenue would likely have to be relocated. According to Fischer, delineated crosswalks would negatively impact sight distance of motorists exiting at 168.

While Fischer wrote that he agreed that a significant number of drivers exit at 168 instead of 171 because of the prohibited right turn at 171, he maintained that the project is necessary.

"I cannot agree however, that removal of the right turn restriction at Interchange 171 would eliminate the need for improvements at Interchange 168," he wrote. "The work that we have proposed will bring Interchange 168 to current standards and will improve safety for not only the Parkway traffic, but local traffic through the interchange as well."

Fischer concluded the letter by writing, "Accordingly, it is our intention to proceed with the construction of this project, as designed."

NJTA officials awarded a bid for the project the morning of July 26, three days before Azzolina sent his correspondence to that body. At the meeting Monday night, Council President Fred Goetz said councilmen had no knowledge that a vote was going to be taken July 26.

Township resident Agnes Smith, who formerly served as the township administrator, told members of the governing body that they should have known when the bid was being awarded and gotten a response to the NJTA prior to the vote.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," she said.