A search for solutions amid concerns of a more-clogged future.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY Perhaps it was with unintended irony that the Traffic Circulation Committee scheduled its first public forum at rush hour.
Nevertheless, more than 50 residents braved the 5 o’clock traffic to listen to the committee’s diagnosis of the township’s traffic woes, and offer up their own analyses of a pervasive problem.
"The format of this committee has been to gather data from our traffic engineer which clarifies the problems that we all know to exist in certain sections of the town," township planner Richard Coppola said before the meeting. "Then we’ll work through the problems to try to identify what we call ‘doable projects’ that will handle the problems but not radically alter the complexion of the town."
Montgomery is oriented along a north-south axis, Mr. Coppola said, with the Millstone River and the Sourland Mountain forming formidable geographic barriers to east-west thoroughfares. Consequently, the bulk of the township’s traffic movement flows northeast and southwest along the township’s main artery, Route 206, and to a lesser extent, along County Road 601. Of the 16 traffic hot spots the committee identified, seven are located along those two roads. Three more occur along the township’s only east-west artery, Route 518.
When these three main roads are considered as a whole, the source of Montgomery’s traffic congestion becomes evident. Most of the cars traveling along the township’s roads at rush hour are on their way to somewhere else, leading to ever-increasing volume and back-ups at intersections bearing a burden far heavier than was ever intended.
The key for improving traffic flow through those hot-spot intersections, committee members said, is to remove the left-turn movements that cause much of the backup, and to shift local traffic away from the main arteries wherever possible.
"The basic concept is to try to separate through movement from local movement," committee chairman Bob Kress said.
To that end, the Planning Board, which met after the forum, received a proposal that would address the traffic back-up at the intersection of Cherry Valley Road and Route 206.
Developer SDI, LLC is set to go before the Princeton Regional Planning Board with an application to build a Commerce Bank and CVS drug store just south of the Princeton Township-Montgomery border. Because the development’s parking lot would exit onto Princeton Avenue, the developer is required to come before the Montgomery Planning Board. And because of the addition of a new commercial development at the corner of an X-shaped intersection that already sports two gasoline stations and a car dealership, the township is concerned about the inevitable traffic impact.
Its solution is to build a road behind the Sunoco station connecting Princeton Avenue to Route 206. Traffic headed north on Route 206 seeking to turn left onto Cherry Valley Road would use the new loop road. Cars would turn right onto Cherry Valley toward Rocky Hill, then turn left onto the new road behind the Sunoco station. At the intersection with Route 206, cars would turn left onto the highway and then right onto Cherry Valley Road headed east.
"Fundamentally, the purpose is to eliminate the left-hand-turn movement from the intersection," Planning Board Chairman Steven Sacks-Wilner said. "If you can do that, it should vastly speed up throughput through the intersection."
The Planning Board referred the proposal to its Master Plan Committee, which in turn recommended it as a formal amendment to the Master Plan. The board will vote on it April 8, Mr. Sacks-Wilner said.
The township also is working with Princeton on a plan that could funnel traffic heading eastbound on Princeton Avenue into a similar loop, eliminating all left-turn movement from the intersection. Princeton Township Engineer Bob Kiser said he is "very optimistic" about the outcome of the joint effort, but said it could be three to four years before it comes to fruition.
The public appeared most concerned with the impending completion of the Hillsborough Bypass, which will see Route 206 widened into four lanes through the township’s northern neighbor, and shifted to the east in Montgomery through the Pike Run housing development in 2007. The committee estimates that the widened roadway will bring a 30-percent increase in traffic, which will be exacerbated by the elimination of the present Route 206-601 intersection.
Currently, the two roads intersect at the far northern end of the township near the Route 206 railroad bridge, but when the bypass is completed, southbound commuters on their way to Route 601 will be forced to trek back north to reach the road.
"We could see about 6,000 more vehicles added to (Route) 206 if people stop taking (Route) 601," Mr. Kress said.
Committee members said the problem could be avoided if the state Department of Transportation terminated the bypass further north in Hillsborough, or if the township extended Belle-Mead-Griggstown Road where the bypass will terminate, according to the state’s current plan west to Route 601. Township leaders were skeptical about the feasibility of either of those options, however.
Residents also expressed considerable concern about the construction and preservation of sidewalks and shoulders for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
"They just spent some incredible amount of money installing sidewalks in Rocky Hill," Frank Tetz said. "But you’ve got dozens of people here ready to move into (continuing-care facility) Stonebridge in a few years, and the sidewalks just stop when you get to Montgomery."
While Monday evening’s discussion revolved around the township’s traffic problems, committee members say the next forum, scheduled for April 11, will focus on solutions.
"By then I expect we will have specific proposals to get public feedback on, instead of just a few ideas," Mayor Louise Wilson said.