By Tim Fox
Staff Writer
Suburban Trends
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Several hundred residents have signed a petition asking the mayor and Council to provide for the installation of a traffic light in the intersection of Skyline Drive and Erskine Road.
For years, many residents have complained about the dangerous intersection.
But the issue has remained an ongoing debate at borough hall.
Passaic County sent a revised plan for the roundabout to Councilman Tom Mac Allen in January. Mac Allen, who confirmed receiving the plan in mid-February, may add to the revisions and send it back to the county for review, he said.
Borough resident Connie Hernandez began the petition, which has inked 438 signatures far. She has been one of he leaders championing the call for a traffic light.
Referring to a Feb. 7 Suburban Trends story concerning a West Milford streetscape project, which first included the construction of a roundabout, Hernandez questioned by the borough couldn’t follow the democratic example set forth by its township neighbor. West Milford directly incorporated residents’ input into the planning process.
According to Suburban Trends West Milford’s planning department revised Passaic County’s draft plan of a street construction project, requesting the removal of a roundabout that was proposed at the intersection of Union Valley and Marshall Hill roads.
The removal request was based on statistical data and a survey that residents filled out and an earlier meeting with a planning consultant hired by the county, Suburban Trends said. The consultant got feedback from residents to draft a plan based on improvements suggested. The plan currently is still under review by the county.
“They had the foresight to listen to their residents,” Hernandez told the Ringwood Borough Council at its Feb 27 meeting.
Anyone interested in signing the petition can go to Curves at 117B Skyline Drive, the Skyline Luncheonette at 129 Skyline Drive, or St. Catherine of Bologna Church, said Hernandez. The council has also said it would welcome input from residents on that issue or anything else. The public can provide suggestions by logging onto the borough’s web site, ringwoodnj.net.
On the other hand, there is a faction of residents who support the alternative solution to the chronic debate, a roundabout, which is similar to a traffic circle but has some distinct differences.
One such proponent, resident Brian Olsson, recently took a trip to Bound Brook, home to a roundabout. Olsson described Bound Brook’s roundabout as similar to the one that is being considered in Ringwood, but more intense.
He believes one of the reasons people may be more inclined to support a traffic light as opposed to a roundabout is because they have not seen or experienced the latter.
“Two things really hit me when I was in the roundabout,” he said. “Cars go slow. It’s a very mellow place. Not once, when I was in the roundabout, did it ever seem like someone was going to jump out and hit me.”
Another resident, Peter Sando, echoed similar thoughts about a roundabout, which he said is in sharp contrast to a traffic circle despite many erroneous attempts to link the two.
“A modern roundabout is not a circle. There are major differences,” said Sando. “The traffic entering (a roundabout) yields the right of way to the circulating traffic, and that prevents a buildup. The second difference is roundabout are very small – generally 70 to 160 feet in diameter compared to 300-400 feet for circles.”
According to Mayor Joanne Atlas, the borough’s proposed roundabout would be 120 feet in diameter.
In addition, Sando cited further advantages of a roundabout, including statistical data indicating fewer fatal and serious accidents, as well as reduced pollution (a roundabout would eliminate automobiles idling, which causes added pollution) and nearly no cost to the borough because the county would pay for it. Sando also questioned whether those who signed the petition for a traffic light knew all the pros and cons of both resolutions for the intersection.
Likewise, the county has shown its support for a roundabout. It has said it will cover the cost for its construction but will not fund the approximate $150K price tag a traffic light would incur. The borough would have to pick that up.
“Studies have shown that modern roundabouts are safer than signalized intersections,” said county traffic engineer Chuck Silverstein.
For example, Silverstein points to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which reviewed 24 intersections around the United States where stop signs or traffic signals were converted to modern roundabouts. According to that study the total number of crashes was reduced by 39 percent and those with injuries dropped by 76 percent.