By Lea Kahn / The Packet Group
LAWRENCE — The township Planning Board gave its stamp of approval to plans to close two entrances to the Quaker Bridge Mall and to expand a third driveway entrance — complete with a traffic signal — at its meeting Monday night.
The traffic improvements are part of the planned redevelopment and expansion of the Quaker Bridge Mall by Lawrence Associates, which owns the mall property. The site is bounded by Route 1, Quakerbridge Road and Grovers Mill Road.
The owners of the Quaker Bridge Mall, which opened in the mid-1970s, announced plans to redevelop the 1-million-square-foot mall in three phases. The owners are going to add about 600,000 square feet of new retail space, including space for the Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom department stores. They are expected to be part of the lineup of new stores at the mall.
At Monday night’s meeting, the applicant proposed closing the easternmost driveway entrance on Quakerbridge Road — which only permits right turns into and out of the mall — and closing a right-turn-only driveway entrance off the Ring Road.
The final element of the plan is an expansion of an existing driveway entrance and exit off Grovers Mill Road. A traffic light will be installed at the intersection of the driveway, opposite the entrance to the Quakerbridge Executive Center office building.
Traffic engineer Kenneth Mackiewicz, who represents Lawrence Associates, told the Planning Board that closing the driveways would improve the traffic flow on Quakerbridge Road and the Ring Road. The expanded driveway and the new traffic light means it will be safer to enter and exit the mall at that location, he added.
When Planning Board member Falk Engel questioned the reason for closing the driveway entrance on Quakerbridge Road, Mr. Mackiewicz replied that motorists "don’t have to slow down to let people turn right into the mall. (The driveway) introduces more friction on Quakerbridge Road."
The Planning Board’s traffic engineer, John Rea, said he concurred with the changes to the driveway entrances and exits, adding that "I do think it will result in a safe, more efficient operation."
The Planning Board’s approval of the traffic improvement plan this week follows on the heels of its approval of the first phase of the expansion plan in June. The start-up construction date for Phase I — which involves the JC Penney department store — has not been determined, attorney Jonathan Epstein said after the meeting.
The board approved the demolition of the existing JC Penney department store and its replacement with a 140,000-square-foot store on top of what is now a parking lot next to the Lord & Taylor department store on the east side of the mall in June. A three-level parking garage containing 1,836 parking spaces will be built between the new JC Penney store and the Sears department store.
The third and final phase of the redevelopment plan consists of construction of the upscale Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom department stores, plus additional stores inside the Quaker Bridge Mall. Neiman Marcus would occupy about 90,000 square feet and Nordstrom would have about 144,000 square feet.
Mr. Epstein said his client hopes to submit an application for the third and final phase — which includes the two new department stores — to the Planning Board by the end of this year.

