Residents of Milltown should be proud of four Borough Council members who stood up for the residents of the town against corporate America when they voted for the ordinance to dead-end Van Liew Avenue. This has been a request of residents of the area for more than 60 years. Until now it has always been brushed under the carpet because of a corporate complex using an unnecessary entrance at the end of the street.
Request after request has been made of the council to address this issue. Finally, there is a majority of the council that believes Milltown needs to take control and put a stop to corporate America dictating what traffic should be on our streets.
The current owner of the complex (a multimillion-dollar company), which is largely in North Brunswick, is not being the good neighbor it claims to be because it is threatening a lawsuit if the street is dead-ended. The attorney for the complex owners stated at a recent council meeting that there is a clause in their tenants’ leases stating that these tenants will have access to the property from Van Liew Avenue rather than Route 1. It seems this corporation is leasing a Milltown street to its tenants. Is this fair to Milltown? I don’t think so, because Milltown taxpayers (not the rent money that the corporation is collecting) are the ones who are paying for the street’s upkeep.
The safety of the many children in the area of this corporate complex entrance will also be at stake if more traffic is allowed to be put on this residential street. The complex has an entrance from Route 1, and this should be the only entrance that is used to enter and exit a complex that houses in excess of 2,000 employees at one of the several buildings on the property.
Congratulations to the four Milltown councilmen who have seen the light and want to protect the area residents and their children by supporting the ordinance to make Van Liew Avenue a dead end. It is only hoped that the remaining council members will also see the light. It was done in North Brunswick several years ago on Chrome Street when the entrances to what is now The Technology Center of New Jersey were locked to all except emergency vehicles. It can be done in Milltown, too, as long as the entire council truly cares about Milltown and its residents and proceeds with the plan to dead-end Van Liew Avenue, with only emergency-vehicle access to the complex.
Sue Barre
Milltown