TINTON FALLS — Residents and public officials raised concerns last week that plans to reconfigure the Garden State Parkway (GSP) Exit 105 interchange are a temporary solution to serious local traffic problems.
During a presentation and public comment session at the Tinton Falls Municipal Complex on Nov. 29, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority unveiled plans for Exit 105 at Tinton Falls designed to address safety and congestion issues.
“This interchange is characterized with existing congestion as well as operational and safety problems, which will worsen with projected growth,” said James Huselton, vice president of the RBA Group, Parsippany, the engineering firm that designed the new plan.
“Future increases in the traffic volume resulting in area growth, including the redevelopment of the former 1,100-acre [Fort Monmouth], will further deteriorate traffic operations at the interchange.”
The new plans call for reconstruction of the interchange at the intersection of Hope Road and Route 36, as well as construction of a southbound connection from the Parkway to Wayside Road and construction of an additional lane to the northbound GSP exit.
Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera expressed concerns that the plans do not provide improved access to the fort.
“I’m not sure how this helps the fort area. This dumps them out far away and it may add some additional truck and car traffic onto Wayside Road,” he said.
Skudera also cited potential problems related to plans for two additional traffic lights on Hope Road and a connector ramp to Wayside Road that would provide access to Route 18.
“If the idea is to have this connection for Route 18, then consider connecting it directly rather than dumping cars into a residential area,” he said.
Parkway Exit 105 is the access route to the communities of Tinton Falls, Eatontown, Ocean Township, West Long Branch, Long Branch and Oceanport, as well as Routes 18 and 36 and Hope Road.
According to Huselton, volume at the interchange is approximately 5,500 vehicles an hour during peak hours.
Huselton said heavy traffic is experienced at the Hope Road and Route 36 intersection where northbound and southbound traffic exiting the parkway merges, resulting in significant queuing and weaving problems.
The heavy exiting traffic also results in safety problems along the northbound and southbound exit ramps, where the existing deceleration lanes are filled to capacity.
The main focus of the project involves the reconstruction of the Hope Road/Route 36 intersection.
To alleviate the merging and congestion issues created by traffic exiting the parkway, the Turnpike Authority plan calls for moving the northbound exit ramp 400 feet south to intersect directly with Hope Road at a new, signalized intersection.
An additional ramp would extend from the eastern side of Hope Road to Route 36 eastbound.
This ramp would provide access to Route 36 eastbound for vehicles coming from Hope Road as well as the northbound exit ramp.
To improve delays at the traffic signal, all left-turn movements at the intersection would be eliminated, Huselton said.
A reverse jughandle will be added to the northeast quadrant of the intersection to accommodate access to the parkway from northbound traffic on Hope Road.
The existing jughandle in the southeast quadrant of the intersection, connecting parkway traffic to Hope Road north, would be realigned to intersect Hope Road at the new intersection, 400 feet south of Route 36.
Traffic on Route 36 westbound heading toward the parkway would be able to access Hope Road north and south via a jughandle before the intersection.
The jughandle would intersect Hope Road at a new intersection approximately 600 feet north of Route 36 and accommodate left- and right-turn movements to Hope Road.
“All three intersections will be synchronized and interconnected. That will facilitate traffic progression and flow,” said Huselton.
The second phase of the project includes the construction of a connecting ramp from the GSP southbound to Wayside Road.
Huselton explained that trucks account for 10 percent of the traffic exiting the Parkway, with the majority of truck traffic accessing Route 18.
“The new southbound connection from the Parkway is going to facilitate access to Route 18 as well as alleviate congestion at the Hope Road and Route 36 intersection,” Huselton said.
“This new connection is being designed to allow for a future connection from the Parkway express lane, should future conditions warrant.”
Two deceleration lanes are proposed along the southbound roadway to accommodate existing and projected traffic volumes.
The final element of the plan calls for construction of an additional deceleration lane in the northbound exit lane to accommodate existing and projected traffic volumes and mitigate queuing along the northbound exit ramp to interchange 105.
“These deceleration lanes will tie into the existing two-lane exit ramp facilitating northbound access to both Route 18 northbound and Route 36 and Hope Road,” Huselton said.
Monmouth County Engineer Joseph Ettore said in an interview following the meeting that the plans address immediate concerns but that further improvements would be needed in the future.
“We feel that this is a valuable improvement which will serve the immediate need, but we feel that as Fort Monmouth continues to develop, additional improvements may be needed,” he said.
“We have been advised by the Garden State Parkway that the current design would not preclude the improvements that the county believes will be needed in the long term.”
Members of the public said that while the new design is an improvement, it does not address the truck traffic that is forced to exit the Parkway at 105 to access Route 18.
“The only way that we are going to fix the intersection of 105 is to reduce the volume of traffic, and the way to reduce the traffic is to link the Parkway right to [Route] 18,” said John Villapiano of Long Branch.
“If you can’t get the vehicles off, no matter how you configure it, it is going to continue to fail. In 15 or 20 years we are going to be right back in front of you saying, ‘What do we do now?’ ”
Mary Ellen Hintz of Lincroft said that because of the traffic congestion at Exit 105, drivers tend to use Exit 109 and Route 520, which increases traffic in Lincroft.
“I believe this is not just an issue for the people in Eatontown and Tinton Falls, it’s a regional issue,” she said.
“While I appreciate the effort to create better flow and better movement throughout the area, I think you are doing it halfway. It’s a convoluted way to bring traffic to [Route] 18. While it may be more costly to connect directly to Route 18, I think in the long run it would be more costeffective. You have to look at this down the road.”
Construction of the 105 interchange would be done in two phases, beginning in the spring of 2013.
The Hope Road/Route 36 reconstruction is projected to take a year to complete, while the other improvements are projected to be completed by 2015.
The comment period for the interchange 105 plans will remain open until Jan. 28. Comments can be submitted in writing to: New Jersey Turnpike Authority Engineering Department, P.O Box 5042, Woodbridge, NJ 07095, Attn: Maynard Abuan, project manager.