A one-lane tunnel beneath the train tracks on Possum Hollow Road in Monroe is a safety problem in need of a solution.
The solution, according to Monroe, should be to permanently close the tunnel to through traffic. Unfortunately, that solution may bring its own series of problems.
The road connects Forsgate Drive in Monroe near the Forsgate Country Club with Docks Corner Road in Jamesburg and offers people in the northern end of Jamesburg access to the N.J. Turnpike without having to travel through the borough.
Eliminating this access without considering ways to reroute traffic — or at least repairing several major traffic problems in the borough — could result in more cars using Jamesburg streets, placing the burden for Monroe’s safety concerns on the residents of Jamesburg — who already face their own traffic woes.
The intersection of Route 522, and Gatzmer, East and West Railroad and Lincoln avenues — which is closest to Possum Hollow — brings together five roads. Traffic is controlled only by two stop signs. Traffic there is heavy, the intersection is difficult to navigate and school children have to cross the intersection both in the morning and in the afternoon.
The borough has been asking the state to fix the intersection for years, asking that stop signs and crosswalks be placed at the intersection and the alignment of the intersection be changed. The borough also has requested a traffic light.
The Route 522 intersection most likely would bear the brunt of spill-over traffic, with cars being forced to travel east through the intersection onto Gatzmer Avenue, a residential street, toward Forsgate Drive, exacerbating another traffic problem.
The intersection of Forsgate Drive, Gatzmer Avenue, Perrineville Road and Willow Street also brings together five points of traffic, with Forsgate Drive serving as a major access point to the Turnpike for drivers coming in from Monmouth County.
Middlesex County has agreed to install a traffic light at the Forsgate Drive intersection, which should help move traffic. Adding more cars is unlikely to make the situation better.
Closing the road permanently would require making the one lane section of the road known as the “hole-in-the-wall” into a cul-de-sac on both sides. That requires an OK from the state — which also may require consent from both towns.
Monroe officials have been leaning toward closure, but say they will not make a decision until summer. But Jamesburg officials say they already have seen an increase in cars since Possum Hollow was temporarily closed in early December to allow construction of a 1.24-million-square-foot Costco Wholesale warehouse.
If Monroe wants to close Possum Hollow, it needs to show that option will not create further hardships down the line.
To that end, Monroe should do three things:
• Find a way to encourage drivers traveling to the N.J. Turnpike or shopping areas in East Brunswick to use Cranbury South River Road, which is to the north of Docks Corner and runs almost parallel toward the Turnpike.
• Make sure the proposed connector road linking Possum Hollow with Cranbury South River Road is open. The road is expected to serve the Costco warehouse exclusively. While it will ensure that trucks traveling to the Turnpike do not wander into the borough, it does nothing for commuter traffic.
• Aid Jamesburg in its negotiations with the state over the two Gatzmer intersections — or offer some monetary payment that will let the borough move forward with the changes itself.
Monroe’s concerns about safety are warranted. But they should not be the only concerns considered. The “hole-in-the-wall,” while located in Monroe, is a problem for both communities. Both communities must be at the table if a workable solution is to be crafted.
