COURT HOUSE — Without comment, freeholders voted unanimous support for three “initial preferred alternatives” that will — someday — eliminate deadly grade crossings at Garden State Parkway Interchanges 9, 10 and 11.
With documents supporting the three proposals, the N.J. Turnpike Authority can begin to seek various approvals from government agencies.
The freeholders’ action, stated in a two-page resolution, supports proposals of the Turnpike Authority that will change the way motorists enter and leave the 173-mile Parkway in three Middle Township locations, and will replace grade crossings with overpasses.
Those locations: Crest Haven Road, Stone Harbor Boulevard and Shellbay Avenue are the highway’s only signalized intersections where, from Jan. 1 2001 to Dec. 31, 2003, one person died and 255 accidents took place between mileposts 8.4 and 11.4, according to the resolution.
“The crash rate along this section of the Parkway is significantly higher than similar highway facilities,” according to the resolution.
The greatest impact on motorists will be at Stone Harbor Boulevard, Interchange 10.
It was probably most of the most debated and reconfigured of all three alternatives studied due, in part, to concerns from the owners of the Hyland Motel, that indirect access from the parkway would hurt business.
The intersection will have a modified diamond access, meaning there will be ways to enter and leave the highway from both north and southbound lanes.
The parkway will span the boulevard with two lanes in each direction, although being wide enough to accommodate three lanes. A median barrier will separate the roadways.
Southbound, there will be a two-way road that extends Brighton Road (incorrectly indicated on the resolution as Bridgeton Road), between Stone Harbor Boulevard and Mechanic Street. It will parallel the parkway on the west side.
The northbound ramp to the parkway will be via a two-way road between Stone Harbor Boulevard and Stone Harbor Landing Road, which will parallel the parkway and allow access to Design Collaborative architectural firm and homes on Stone Harbor Landing.
County Engineer Dale Foster said the southbound exit ramp will go through a portion of the Cape Regional Medical Center commuter lot, but that the lot will be reconfigured to allow the same amount of parking in that eastern lot.
No homes will be taken along Brighton Road, he said. Some pieces of land will be taken including some part where the medical center’s ambulances are kept.
A northbound exit ramp will connect to Stone Harbor Boulevard.
At Shellbay Avenue, Interchange 9, a full diamond access will allow entrance and exits from both north and southbound lanes.
Crest Haven Road, Interchange 11, will be a full-access diamond interchange with the parkway spanning Crest Haven Road.
The northbound entrance ramp will be relocated a half mile north off Moore Road, approximately by the Technical School.
The resolution cites the at-grade crossings as “causing great inconvenience to motorists, contributing to poor air quality from idling vehicles and resulting in a higher number of motor vehicle crashes.”
It also mentions the “negative impact the traffic congestion caused by the parkway signals have on the vitality of the tourism-based economy of Cape May County…”
Classified as an “urban freeway/expressway,” the parkway in Middle Township carries a daily average of 54,000 vehicles on weekend and 45,000 vehicles on weekdays during the summer season.
That traffic load results in “an unacceptable level of service for extended periods of time,” according to the resolution.
“Without major capacity improvements at the three signalized parkway intersections, existing congestion will worsen along the parkway and extend further onto the adjacent roadways,” the resolution states.
There is also an admission in the document that the selection will not make everyone happy: “Unfortunately no alternative is without impacts whether it is social, economic, or environmental, however the signal elimination and grade separation project is for improved motorist safety and the public good.”
“Given the financial and environmental constraints on the grade separations, no one alternative will satisfy the diverse interests affected by this project,” it continued.
Copies of the document were sent to the governor, legislators, both federal and state, county planning board, state Department of Transportation and municipalities of Middle Township and Stone Harbor.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com
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