Residents Concerned About Turnpike Project

 Residents and township officials say they support a plan to widen and change aspects of N.J. Turnpike Exit 9 at Route 18, but concerns over the impact construction will have on residents remain.

“The plan is not perfect, but it’s better than the plan presented to the township before,” said Mayor David Stahl.

During a public forum on the changes, held Wednesday evening in the municipal court room, residents said they have concerns over the amount of noise the project will make, particularly during the evening and night; that they would like to see sound walls and have the area look as nice as possible; and that they would like to see the project completed as quickly as possible.

“Would you consider closing Exit 9 to make the work go faster,” said Councilwoman Camille Ferraro. "I don’t see where opening this up benefits East Brunswick, and if we can shorten construction then I don’t see that as a terrible thing.”

Ferraro also said she would oppose chain-link fences anywhere on the new section and encouraged the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to create an area similar to the New Brunswick side of Route 18.

“Regardless of what kind of barriers they put on the project, I wouldn’t want to see one inch of chain link fence, before you do something if anything, make it as pretty as Route 18 looks when you’re going through New Brunswick.”

Turnpike officials say the Exit 9 is in need of operational and safety improvements to deal with high traffic volumes entering and exiting the toll plaza. The Turnpike Authority is proposing to replace the existing single lane ramp that connects Route 18 south to the Exit 9 plaza with a two-lane ramp. The wider ramp would require the replacement of the bridge that carries Route 18 traffic over the highway.

Residents who live near the exit say the Turnpike should take the opportunity to put sound barriers up to shield them not only from noise, but from intrusions from pedestrians who walk across the bridge during all hours of the day.

Susan Martin, a resident of the nearby Lawrence Brook neighborhood, said this is a perfect opportunity to build walls from Manor Place to the bridge, especially since residents have been asking for them for years. She said some neighbors have had trouble with pedestrians hopping their fences and cutting through their yards.

Craig Aronow, of Laurel Lane, asked that the Turnpike Authority discuss purchasing some of his property to act as a buffer between his home and a retaining wall. He said the retaining wall will be facing his home and that he might be the only resident with that particular problem.

“I don’t want to pull out of the driveway every day and star at a brick wall with a wrought iron fence” he said.

Aronow also said he is concerned about potential damage to his home, which could result from heavy machinery operating close by. He said his home was built in the 1940s and has plaster walls and that when the Turnpike Authority recently drilled for soil samples, it shook the walls and made a noise that was disruptive, which could cause problems if work is done during the night.

“A lot of people want to live here, and we understand the need for the work. But we ask that you work with us,” he said.

According to the plans presented by the Turnpike Authority, “The radius of the new ramp will be increased to meet the current minimum design standard and Route 18 will be shifted to the east, away from the residential area on the west side of the highway. With the exception of vacant land north of the Route 18 exit/entrance to Tower Center Boulevard, right-of-way acquisitions will not be necessary on private property.”

Plans also call for the construction of additional lanes at the intersection of Naricon Place, including two lanes on the Route 18 southbound approach to provide “Turn Only” lanes leading into the new turnpike entrance ramp and a separate right turn for Naricon Place.

The project is expected to begin during the summer of 2012 and end in the fall of 2014.

Turnpike officials say the improvements will be designed with safety in mind and will address the existing “substandard horizontal curve on the ramp from Route 18 southbound to the turnpike toll plaza,” improve capacity and improve the merging and weaving on Route 18 north near the exit.

The turnpike also said it doesn’t expect the work to impact nearby residents.

On the northbound side, plans called for three lanes on Route 18 though the traffic signal at Naricon, then a narrowing to two lanes as it approaches the merge with NJ Turnpike traffic. As Route 18 and the exiting Turnpike traffic merge, there would have been four lanes as the road crosses over Westons Mill Pond. The plans meant moving Route 18 40 feet to the east.