Routes 31-518 intersection open again to area traffic

NJDOT met its estimated completion date

By Ruth Luse
   In December 2004 — when improvement work actually began at the intersection of Route 31 and Route 518 — Mark Lavorgna, a spokesman for NJ Department of Transportation (NJDOT), estimated the intersection improvement project would be complete by late 2006. He was just about on target.
   On Tuesday, Commissioner Kris Kolluri said NJDOT had completed operational and safety improvements to the intersection and that the intersection had been opened to traffic on the morning of Sept. 21.
   Long gone by then from the area involved in the improved intersection was a one-time landmark. It was on a Sunday in October 2003 that Karen’s at Brookside, the roadside eatery and ice cream stand that had operated at the intersection for 28 years, closed.
   Through the right of eminent domain, NJDOT acquired the 1-acre tract upon which Karen’s building sat, clearing the way for work on the intersection.
   The summer of 2003 was the last for owner Karen Bendix-Rowland, who said in June 2003: "Our place will make way for a turning lane from Route 31 onto Route 518."
   Ms. Bendix-Rowland, when facing the closing of her business in 2003, said the intersection at which she had been selling food and ice cream was very quiet when she first set up shop in 1975. A quantum leap in the amount of truck traffic on Route 31 over a 10-year period spelled doom for her business. The oddly configured intersection at which Karen’s sat presented turning problems for large trucks and had been the scene of several serious accidents involving 18-wheelers over the years.
   Ms. Bendix-Rowland knew something had to be done. "We’ve had two tractor-trailers come onto my property. One came to a stop 4 inches from my building’s overhang," she said back in 2003.
   Now, things should be better.
   COMMISSIONER KOLLURI said Tuesday: "These improvements not only provide a safer intersection for the motorists on Route 31, but will also alleviate traffic backups throughout the area . . . This project is an example of NJDOT’s cost- effective, context-sensitive methods of increasing driver safety."
   NJDOT’s improvements to Route 31 and Route 518 "will increase safety and mobility at an intersection with a history of rear-end and sideswipe accidents and traffic jams," he noted.
   Route 31 southbound has experienced significant traffic backups due to left-turning vehicles during the morning peak hours. In addition, motorists often used the roadway shoulders as bypass lanes for through traffic to avoid vehicles turning left on Route 31. Traffic backups occurring on Route 518 westbound during the evening peak hours are attributed to the lack of turning lanes in the westbound direction.
   The $5.6 million project included the widening of Route 31 and new left-turn lanes from Route 31 in each direction onto Route 518 and from Route 518 onto Route 31 southbound. The addition of these left-turn lanes on Route 31 and westbound Route 518 "will help improve the accident rate and traffic backups and discourage the use of the shoulder as a bypass lane," a spokesman said.
   NJDOT also increased the right-turn radius from Route 31 to Route 518 and added deceleration lanes for right turns to help alleviate accidents at the intersection. New 8-foot shoulders have been added to Route 518 and 10-foot wide shoulders were installed on Route 31 to provide for bicycle compatibility.
   In addition, NJDOT rehabilitated the Route 31 bridge over Woodsville Brook and widened the Route 518 bridge to accommodate the addition of the left-turn slot on Route 518 westbound.