What if the DOT came up with solutions for other state problems?
By: John Patten
It seems two themes run endlessly through discussions among New Jerseyans — our deplorable traffic problems and our need to improve public schools.
We may have spotted the source of the problem, and we offer a simple solution for Trenton to consider — switch the DOT and the Department of Education.
Sounds crazy, we know, but here’s why it might work:
Whenever there’s a traffic problem, and bit of a logjam in a road, the DOT is there to build.
Or, perhaps more accurately, overbuild.
Take the intersection of Rt. 130, Hankins Road and Conover Road. Without getting bogged down in how the intersection came to be the way it is, it’s fair enough to call it a “Z” intersection. That is, one road comes in on one side of Rt. 130, then a short distance up the road, the other comes in on the opposite side.
If one were to sit down and try to design a dangerous and confusing way to bring three roads together, this would be the design to use.
The DOT has a plan to make the intersection safer and more conducive to traffic flow: put in a couple of jughandles and fancy exit lanes and — voila! — a safe and effective solution.
Also a very expensive one — the East Windsor Township Council pointed out last week that a simple realignment of the roads to create a four-way intersection would work as well, while being much cheaper and easier to build.
But our beloved state DOT wants to build the best. They’re willing to pull out all the stops and spend whatever it takes to build as much as possible.
That’s the kind of “can-do” spirit we need in the Department of Education. Imagine, for a moment, the new education department engineers’ solution to cramped classrooms or understaffed libraries: we’d see million-dollar multi-purpose rooms and classrooms with environmental impact statements.
Multi-lane hallways in the high school would help students get to class quicker, and high-tech flow systems would assure smooth lunchtime dining.
If a new room would solve a problem, they’d want to construct a new wing. If a new school is needed, they’re going to build a campus.
Yes, we’d have the top of the line, biggest and best public school system imaginable by the very imaginative minds at the DOT.
Meanwhile, the former education department personnel would tackle our traffic problems with their usual frugality. One can almost hear them — “That dangerous intersection in East Windsor? Can’t we just make it a four-way intersection with a little light?”
Oh, well, perhaps it’s for the best that things are the way they are. We’d hate to think of what would occupy New Jersey conversations if such a change actually happened.