Citizen concerns
By JENNIFER KELLEY
Cherry Hill Sun
8/26/2007

With work progressing on Route 70, some residents aren’t so sure it’s a good thing

A state-sponsored project to permanently close all of Route 70’s median openings and add more left-turn and stacking lanes along the roadway’s 8.3-mile stretch through town is getting mixed reviews from residents.

The more vocal critics of the state Department of Transportation’s late-summer construction project – namely, those living in the Erlton section – showed up en masse at a Council meeting on Aug. 14 to voice concern over the project and anger at the township administration, which many feel left them out of the decision-making process. Dozens of residents took to the podium, some addressing their grievances, others angrily accusing Mayor Bernie Platt of ignoring the will of his constituents.

Many of those constituents fear the addition of multiple turning lanes is a harbinger for the expansion of Route 70 into a contiguous six-lane highway. Currently, the road narrows into two lanes along more residential areas, such as through the Erlton neighborhoods.

But the current project, which has crews working through the night to avoid daytime lane closures, will not result in the addition of extra through lanes, said NJDOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon.

“NJDOT is not modifying lane widths. The lanes will remain as they are currently configured,” she told The Sun. “The goal is to provide more orderly traffic flow in order to reduce conflict points and improve the safety of the corridor.

“An additional lane will not be painted,” Phalon emphasized. “All we are doing is adding left and U-turn slots, extending left and U-turn slots and closing some median openings.”

A detailed plan of what will result from the roadwork is laid out on the township’s Web site. It includes new eastbound stacking lanes at Locustwood cemetery, Georgia Avenue and Pine Tree Plaza near Future Fitness; additional westbound stacking lanes are being built at Whitman Avenue as well as Sawmill Road. Existing eastbound and westbound stacking lanes are being extended at Cooper Landing Road, Kingston and West Gate drives and at the entrance to the Barclay Farm Shopping Center.

Officials familiar with the project noted that, additionally, construction crews are permanently sealing up median openings at Conwell, Harrison and Madison avenues, Sawmill Road, Kingston, West Gate and East Gate drives, as well as the median opening opposite the Wills Eye Surgery Center.

The $700,000 endeavor is scheduled to end in early September, Phalon said.

Wexford Leas civic association chairwoman Gaytana Pino said she and her neighborhood’s residents are pleased with the changes the state made to the turning lane at the entrance to the Barclay Shopping Center, one of the first portions of the project completed. “The lane is longer – it’s so much nicer now,” she said.

“The mayor has a responsibility to improve Route 70 – he’d be irresponsible if he ignored that road’s many problems,” she added. “I’m happy with the pace of progress so far.”

Pino sat on the 15-member Route 70 Task Force, which Platt handpicked last year to determine what the township wanted for the state highway’s stretch through Cherry Hill. The resulting Route 70 Report detailed a canopy of trees dotting the medians, decorative lights and tidy brick walkways and crosswalks. But it also noted that a contiguous six-lane highway would be safer than one that shrinks then expands at various points.

“For Wexford Leas, the biggest problem with Route 70 is that its setup compels people to cut through our neighborhood streets to avoid all the backups caused by lanes changes,” Pino told The Sun. “You cross Springdale (Road) and there are three lanes that suddenly change into two lanes, and that’s where traffic piles up. People want to get away from it as quick as they can so they turn off Route 70 and speed through the streets our children play on. If there were consistently three lanes, drivers would not have to cut through Wexford.”

Pino contended that the problems Route 70’s layout causes in her neighborhood are consistent in residential areas all along the highway’s stretch through town.

“It goes from two lanes to three and then back down to two and back up to three – that’s incredibly dangerous,” she argued.

But not everyone sees it that way.

Many residents at the Council meeting contended that there were significant disparities between the recommendations in the task force’s Route 70 Report and the current construction. In some places, where the task force report suggests prohibiting left-hand turns, turning lanes are now being built; in other spots, the report recommends installing traffic signals, yet there is no indication that new structures will be installed.

A grassroots organization headed by Erlton resident Susan Bromke – the Cherry Hill Citizens for a Safer Route 70 Committee – is displeased with both the task force’s final report and the changes NJDOT is instituting along the corridor. The committee is putting the finishing touches on its own report on Route 70, which should be complete by late September, Bromke said.

Residents who voiced support for the new committee noted to Council that they believed the task force didn’t offer realistic recommendations for improving Route 70. It was also pointed out that task force members never notified the public or solicited further input from residents before submitting their final report on the township’s desires to NJDOT.

Area resident George Hickman said he was furious that Council and the township government had not come forward and spoken to their constituency about the “heart of the issue” – namely, that the task force advocated a consistent three-lane highway in each direction.

“We are not going to stand for a three-lane super highway, and we are watching you and the state,” he said. “There are more stacking lanes being built right now than recommended in the task force report – all the DOT has to do once they’re all in place is bulldoze a few curbs and they got their three lanes in each direction.”

Others took to the podium voicing similar sentiments, based on the fear that three lanes through a section such as Erlton will take away from the calm, neighborhood feel of the area, increase the volume and speed of motorists and prevent residents from crossing the highway.

“We are concerned about the safety of our children, first and foremost,” Hickman said, “and this plan does nothing to ensure that.”

Resident Theresa Mohrfeld questioned how students at the Queen of Heaven School in the Erlton vicinity would cross through the new stacking lanes being built on the roadway.

Clara Woods, 14, noted that crossing Route 70 is already dangerous with just four lanes – “with six, it doesn’t sound safer. I’m kind of not allowed to cross it already,” she admitted, triggering a round of laughter – one of the few lighthearted moments of the tense evening. “Think of the youth, here,” she continued. “I don’t want to be a prisoner of Erlton. It’s fun and all, but I wanted to be able to visit my friends on the other side of the street.”

Pino, however, told The Sun that those who think the construction is going to result in an extra driving lane are misinformed.

“At this point, it’s all conjecture on their part. People usually don’t like change, and some people are very upset with the changes taking place and what might happen in the future. But let’s fight that fight when and if we come to it,” she said. “At this point, it’s ridiculous to attack a plan to put in stacking and turn lanes that are going to make Route 70 safer and businesses along it more accessible.”