Traffic-calming circle continues to fray nerves
Pezarras expects decision to be reached by Nov. 6
BY COLLEEN LUTOLF
Staff Writer

BRICK - The controversy surrounding the traffic-calming circle project in Birchwood Park is not doing much for anyone's nerves.

Birchwood Park residents have been attending Township Council meetings recently because they want the township to stop work on a traffic-calming circle that is being constructed in the intersection of Sprucewood and Ashwood drives.

In the center of each road leading up to the circle, a teardrop-shaped median has already been constructed.

Residents said they were never told about the $77,000 project, the last phase in a three-part project to slow traffic in the area, and voiced concerns about emergency vehicles, pedestrian safety, and snowplowing.

After a vocal presence at a Sept. 26 council meeting, acting Business Administrator Scott Pezarras agreed to stop work on the project until he met with township professionals.

An emotionally charged Oct. 2 meeting with approximately 80 residents featured more complaints from residents who said they felt boondoggled by the town.

"This is just a whole big sour taste in my mouth," said Lou Grzyb, of Hollywood Boulevard, at the Oct. 10 council meeting. "I think it's a waste of money. I just feel like [the Oct. 2] meeting was to convince you this was going to happen and you're going to like it."

One outcome of that meeting was a decision to send all Birchwood Park residents (within a circumference of roads comprising Cedarwood, Parkway, Maplewood and Lakeland drives and Chambers Bridge Road) a survey, hand-delivered and accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Delivered on Oct. 11, 492 residents received surveys that required people to check one of two boxes: residents who were in favor of the traffic-calming rotary were to check one box, and those who were opposed were asked to check the other. Surveys had to be returned by Oct. 13.

The survey stated that township professionals would be available at Hank Waltonowski Park on Oct. 12 to answer residents' questions about the project.

"The majority of people came with opinions that were already formed, and their opinions were formed on faulty information," Police Capt. Douglas Kinney said.

Residents assume the circle is being constructed to prevent accidents, he said.

"It's going to slow speeding," he said.

School buses, emergency vehicles and snowplows can easily navigate the circle, and the road will be graded once construction is complete, he said.

Some residents complained that part of the road looked as if it were sinking after the project started.

But there was a caveat: any surveys not returned would be considered a yes vote for the circle, which angered residents opposed to the project.

After residents complained, council members told residents that surveys not returned would not be counted.

By Oct. 17, 257 surveys had been returned with 212, or 82 percent, of the respondents opposing the circle. Forty-five, or 17 percent, of the respondents favored the project. One person sent the survey back blank, according to the administration's calculations.

If the nonreturned surveys were counted as supporting the project, the majority, with 56 percent, of residents would be in favor of the project.

This caused some confusion at the following council meeting Oct. 17.

Councilman Dan Toth called the survey "flawed."

Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli said the survey should be done again.

"You'd like to see the survey done again?" Pezarras asked.

"I've never been in favor of these," Councilman Stephen C. Acropolis said about surveys that count nonreturned surveys as yes votes.

"I think [the residents] are against it," Toth said.

"The issue now isn't if they're against it," Council President Anthony Matthews said. "The issue now is what are we going to do there? Something has to be done."

One problem with tearing out the work that has already been contracted for is the financial constraints of the project, which was paid for with grants, Pezarras said.

The township is allowed to make a change order on a project up to 20 percent of the total cost, he said.

"I don't know if it's a rebid situation," he said. "You contract to build a rotary, if you change the design ... I don't know how he [the contractor] would view that."

"It's also whether or not the primary issue was resolved, which was speeding," Pezarras said.

Why the residential street is such a speedway has to do with the way it was constructed, Pezarras said.

Most residential streets in town are 50 feet wide. Cars turning onto Sprucewood from Chambers Bridge Road are met with an 80-foot-wide roadway, which naturally encourages drivers to speed, Pezarras said.

If drivers coming upon the first intersection in the development, after which the road width is reduced to 60 feet wide, are met with a traffic rotary, they'll be forced to slow down, Pezarras said.

The teardrop medians are meant to give the visual impression that a car won't fit through the rotary, to force drivers to reduce their speed.

Another factor is that the contractor, L&L Paving, Tinton Falls, could sue the township.

"We might win, we might not win, he might not sue us," Pezarras said. "These are all business decisions and we have to take all these things into consideration."

Pezarras is meeting again with township officials, including engineers, police, and purchasing agent Rich MacDonald to see what the township's options are.

A final decision should be reached by Nov. 6, Pezarras said.