border at Lloyd Road
is development target
Board hears about traffic
impact of 380 apartments
Marlboro-Aberdeen
border at Lloyd Road
is development target
BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer
Marlboro Planning Board members have heard testimony about the impact that a proposed 382-apartment development will have on traffic in the vicinity of the project.
If approved by the board, the Northpointe development would be built in Marlboro just south of the Aberdeen border near Lloyd and Nolan roads.
Frank Miskovich, a traffic engineer representing Ohad Associates, testified before the board on Nov. 25. Ohad Associates is seeking approval to build 382 apartments in 18 buildings.
Miskovich began his analysis of the impact of the proposed development on traffic by stating that Northpointe would cause minimal additional delays for drivers who are seeking to make left turns from Lloyd Road into driveways and side streets.
"You’re saying [the development] will have a minimal effect? Have you ever driven on Lloyd Road? Are you familiar with the area?" interjected board Chairman Mario Giudice.
The standing-room-only crowd of about 250 people reacted with loud laughter and guffaws, which Giudice was able to suppress after about 30 seconds.
Miskovich responded by saying, "I have driven the road a number of times. Turning left onto side streets and driveways is one of the least impeded movements."
He said the traffic generated by Northpointe would add between two and five seconds for cars driving on Lloyd Road during the peak hour of traffic. The total average delay on the road during the peak hour would rise to about 20 to 22 seconds, the engineer added.
"That’s an acceptable level for an urban area," he testified.
Thornton Road, which would allow residents of Northpointe to enter their complex and would be used by school buses to bring students to the Marlboro Memorial Middle School on Nolan Road, would operate at similar levels of delay, Miskovich said.
Delays on Nolan Road would be significantly longer because the intersection with Lloyd Road "creates turn conflicts," the engineer testified.
Miskovich said he used data provided by the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) to estimate the number of trips generated by apartment buildings to arrive at his estimates.
"The data [generated by ITE] is accepted in this state and throughout the industry," the traffic engineer added.
Township Councilman Barry Denkensohn, who sits on the board, said, "I drive on Lloyd Road five days a week, twice a day. I see a lot of traffic on Lloyd Road without this development. There are backups on Lloyd Road from Route 34 and the backup could be anywhere from 200 feet to a quarter-mile. Can you tell me how this report determined that there would be a minimal effect on traffic on Lloyd Road with 382 apartments in this location?"
"We looked at the delay pre- and post-development and compared them. Is there an impact? Yes. We looked at traffic over the peak hour. You may see a certain condition at 5 p.m., but it may be different at 5:20 or 5:30 p.m.," Miskovich said.
Mayor Matthew Scannapieco, who also sits on the board, asked how the situation would be affected if the applicant does not build 85 units that are proposed to be set aside for people whose income meets regional guidelines. Those units are the so-called affordable housing component of the application.
"Fewer apartments produce less traffic than more apartments," Miskovich responded, adding that the level of average delay would not vary by a large amount if the applicant does not build those 85 apartments.
Giudice asked Miskovich to provide data comparing the traffic that would be generated by townhouses to the traffic that would be generated by the Northpointe project.
Miskovich said the applicant was working with Monmouth County on a number of improvements to roads in the area. The applicant will widen Lloyd Road along the front of the proposed development and is also working with the county, which has jurisdiction over Lloyd Road, on alternatives to improve traffic at the intersection of Lloyd and Nolan roads, he said.
Ohad Associates plans to widen the curbing of Gravelly Brook, which bisects the proposed development site, and provide a pedestrian crossing for the brook, the engineer added.
Felicia Stoler, who is a member of Marlboro’s open space committee, said the board should conduct studies of how Northpointe would affect surrounding roads.
"I would like the township and the applicant to look into conducting further traffic assessments in the area. This development will place a further burden on Nolan Road, Reids Hill Road and Route 34 (in Aberdeen Township), and Reids Hill Road and Pleasant Valley Road. These roads are very small, winding and unsafe. Many people will come out of the [Northpointe] development and [use these roads to] bypass the Lloyd Road-Route 34 intersection," Stoler said.
"Traffic is going to be awful. How are these people going to get to work? There’s no more parking spots at the [Matawan] train station and there’s no parking for the buses now either," she told the board.
"Rather than get into the endless number of objections that we all have to this project, I’d just like the applicant to tell us why in the world the people of Marlboro and the people of Aberdeen would want something like this shoved into this small parcel of land," Marlboro resident Jonathan Lesser said. "With all of this open land available, to pile all those families in there — Where are these students going to go? Where are these people going to go for recreation?"
Giudice said that on Jan. 7, the date of the next Planning Board meeting at which the Northpointe application will be considered will be announced.