By:Brian Shappell
Traffic and safety improvements on the table for nearly 10 months remain on hold for one reason — approval of the state Department of Transportation.
The Township Committee presented three ordinances in September and reintroduced them in January that deal with local roadway improvements. The projects includes making a section of Station Road a no-passing zone, establishing a speed limit on the Old Trenton Road extension and the prohibition of left turns from Old Cranbury Road to South Main Street. Each needs approval from the DOT.
“It’s frustrating when things take so long. But we don’t have a lot of control over the governmental bodies,” said Greg Overstreet, the committee liaison to the DOT. “We cannot continue without their approval. They certainly know that we’re eager to get it done.”
The DOT has jurisdiction to review all roadway proposals to ensure that state standards are met. No road projects in the state can go forward without DOT approval.
The ordinances will remain on hold at least until July 24, the next time the committee meets, while the township awaits word from the DOT.
The DOT has not contacted any member of the Township Committee with an explanation about the delays said Mayor Alan Danser.
“I can’t understand why it has taken so long,” Mayor Danser said. “It makes us look somewhat silly, carrying this from month to month.”
The mayor was most concerned about setting a speed limit, proposed to be 35 mph on the Old Trenton Road extension, which opened in November and links Old Trenton Road at the intersection of South Main Street with Route 130. Because of the delays, no official speed limit has been set for the newly built road.
“Clearly, there has to be a speed limit,” Mayor Danser said. “It needs to be set.”
DOT Spokesman John Dourgarian said that setting the speed limit is not in the department’s hands and that it is a responsibility of the county.
“We only get a copy of the county’s decision; they determine the acceptable speed limit,” Mr. Dourgarian said. “We just put the information into our files.”
The Supervising Engineer for Middlesex County, Kenneth Preteroti, said that Mr. Dourgarian was “positively inaccurate.” The road has not been accepted as a county road according to Mr. Preteroti.
“It is not our road yet,” Mr. Preteroti said. “The municipality needs to get a speed limit approved by the state. The county is surely not going to object to the speed limit set.”
The road is owned by the developer, not the township, because there is still work to be done. Once the developer has completed the road construction on the extension, then the township will accept ownership. At that point, the county will take ownership of the road according to Mayor Danser. In the mean time, Mayor Danser said he is still concerned and wants a speed limit set.
“If the state sends us a letter saying we can set it, I would be glad to do so,” Mayor Danser said. “I am very confident that this is a state issue.”
Mr. Dourgarian also said the third ordinance, prohibiting left turns from Old Cranbury Road to South Main Street, is also a county responsibility.
“It is just a matter of the county installing the sign,” said Mr. Dourgarian.
Mr. Preteroti, again, disagreed with Mr. Dourgarian. He said the county could not assume jurisdiction over the area where the traffic signal is because the project was not completely finished, according to Mr. Preteroti.
Though Mayor Danser said the delays have taken an excessive amount of time, he continued that delays in dealing with DOT were not uncommon. He also said there were similar problems in getting expeditious approval for projects on Symmes Court and Plainsboro Road.
“All of the measures we’ve requested have been approved and I’m grateful for that,” said Mayor Danser. “However, it seems that minor measures, that are important locally, but are not earth-shattering safety measure, take an inordinate amount of time.”
