MONROE — For township officials and residents, there is no question that a dangerous situation exists at the entrance to the Renaissance at Monroe adult community on Route 33.
The question appears to be who will pay for the improvements.
Renaissance resident Dave Mason appeared at the Jan. 4 meeting, as he has on previous occasions, to voice concern about what he termed “an accident waiting to happen.”
Township Engineer Ernest Feist last year approached the state Department of Transportation (DOT) about establishing acceleration/deceleration lanes along Route 33 eastbound near the Renaissance entrance. DOT Assistant Commissioner Sharon Shinkle Gardner responded in July, stating that the DOT’s Bureau of Traffic Engineering and Investigations (BTEI) had ordered a transition of the shoulder lines onto the existing curbed areas along Renaissance Boulevard. However, these transitions would not result in acceleration/deceleration lanes.
“BTEI’s field investigation revealed that the existing shoulder area is only 10 feet wide, and the edge of the pavement is not protected by curbing outside of the minimal section created by RenaissanceBoulevard,” Shinkle Garder wrote in a letter. “Simply striping the requested lanes will result in substandard lane width and create clear-zone safety concerns, and as such, is not a viable alternative.”
Gardner said the Renaissance at Monroe is a private community, and the DOT has a longstanding policy that public funding should not be used to improve private facilities. She suggested the township pursue the creation of the acceleration/ deceleration lanes through the access permit process.
In December, Len Berness, president of the Renaissance board of trustees, wrote a letter to the Township Council asking that funds be allocated to create the acceleration/deceleration lanes.
“Residents are of the opinion that sooner or later a serious accident will occur at our location, especially in light of the already-approved shopping centers and a major warehouse facility just east of the Renaissance,” Berness wrote. “Without these lanes, residents must decelerate and accelerate on the highway, exacerbating already dangerous conditions.”
At the Jan. 4 meeting, Mayor Richard Pucci said it was important to schedule another meeting with the DOT. Township Administrator Wayne Hamilton said he considered it ludicrous for the township to have to fund a study for improvements to a state highway.
“The DOT has the final say. They will dictate the standards that must be maintained,” Hamilton said. Pucci added that there is also a problem with the left turn at the Route 33 location, but that may have to wait because there is no traffic signal there. Feist said that a couple of developers submitted applications for highway access at the corner, but neither application is likely to move forward in the foreseeable future.