HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: Aunt Molly residents win case to keep road unpaved

Hopewell Residents for Rural Preservation wore yellow ribbons to Monday meeting

By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
   After three hours of discussion Monday, the Hopewell Township Committee voted 3-2 that the central portion of Aunt Molly Road will remain unpaved.
   The question of whether to pave or not to pave the half-mile segment running between Cherry Valley Road and Route 518 has been percolating for nearly a decade now.
   Many residents addressed the committee and most, but not all, said they wanted the road to remain unpaved.
   A grass-roots group opposing paving, Hopewell Residents for Rural Preservation, wore yellow ribbons to the meeting. That group hired an attorney, Walter Bliss, and traffic engineer Don Disario. Both those men predicted to the committee that paving would increase traffic volume and speeding. Similar testimony was voiced by James Kochenour, a traffic engineer hired by the township.
   Voting against paving the road were Mayor Vanessa Sandom, Deputy Mayor John Murphy and Committeemen David Sandahl. Voting to pave were the two Republicans Michael Markulec and Jim Burd.
   ”We have a general agreement that paving will increase traffic volume and speeding,” the mayor said. She said the unpaved portion is, in effect, a “traffic calming” feature that it would make no sense to eliminate.
   ”The most important data is the voice of the people,” Mr. Sandahl said. “I haven’t heard anything compelling” that supports paving the road, he added.
   Mr. Markulec said he felt the road would be safer if it were paved. He noted that it will cost an estimated $13,000 to $15,000 more this year to maintain an unpaved Aunt Molly Road than it would cost if the road were paved.
   ”In these budget times, that means other programs will get cut,” he said.
   Mr. Burd agreed the road would be safer if paved. He said that, during dry summer weather, dust is so heavy on the unpaved portion that visibility for drivers becomes a problem.