New Planning Board Traffic Expert Testifies on ShopRite Application

Wyckoff Planning Board’s new traffic engineering expert, Berge Tombalakian, provided testimony at a special meeting Monday night on the Inserra Supermarkets’ application to build a ShopRite in town.

Tombalakian, who , got up to speed with the application by reading transcripts of .

While Tombalakian reported a few minimal points of difference with Inserra’s traffic report, he said he generally found it to be sensible.

“The report follows a methodology that is reasonable and an approach that is commonly used in the industry,” Tombalakian said. “I didn’t have any objections with the approach.”

He said he did not view the study’s Sunday traffic counts – which Stop & Shop attorney Gail Price had previously contested – as a major issue.

In December, Price argued that Inserra’s counts did not reflect traffic during peak hours on Sunday, nor did they consider the potential uptick in traffic during events at nearby St. Elizabeth's Church or the Wyckoff Family YMCA.

Tombalakian said that regardless of what seasonal events may take place around the proposed development, he did not believe background traffic on Sunday was high enough to warrant any serious concern. 

“I feel the same way, whether the was next door or not, the Sunday analysis isn’t going to compare with the weekday or Saturday analysis,” he said. “I think that the critical peak times would be the weekday afternoon peak and then the Saturday midday peak. The Sunday background traffic, even if you think about St. E’s across the street or Boulder Run next door, the background commuter traffic isn’t there.”

Tombalakian also responded to previously raised concerns regarding congestion in the proposed ShopRite parking lot near its Greenwood Avenue entrance where motorists are expected to converge looking for the best parking spaces.

“It’s my belief that those parking spaces are probably the highest value in terms of being the closest to the proposed store and that it will be a lot of jockeying for position to get to those spots,” said Tombalakian, who recommended the board consider implementing turn restrictions for motorists entering the site from the center driveway or, alternatively, allow for a reevaluation in conjunction with the police of any operational issues in that area after the development is built.

Inserra’s traffic expert, Jay Troutman, said he would strongly favor such an evaluation.

The Planning Board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m.