Task Force Leans Toward Wider Driveway to Ease Ridge HS Traffic Jams

The Bernards Township Committee and township Board of Education are at the point of considering a special task force's recommendation on how to solve the morning traffic problem at Ridge High School.

That recommendation will be finalized at next Wednesday's meeting of the task force, and then forwarded to the school board and township committee at their meetings, respectively, on April 8 and 9.

The task force has made a preliminary recommendation, referred to as Option 9, to widen the driveway off South Finley Avenue by the Board of Health office for use by buses, which would drop off students by the Performing Arts Center. That would allow parents to use the main entrance at Lake Road and South Finley, and drop off students either at the front of the school or by the gym. That option would cost about $149,000, according to a report presented at a public meeting on Monday night.

But many of the residents who attended a task force meeting on Monday night said they preferred routing the buses through the adjacent municipal complex.

During months of meetings, the task force developed a dozen different options, including a $1.1 million plan to construct a new entrance off Collyer Lane. All of the options and consultant reports can be found online.

Township Committeeman John Carpenter, a member of the task force, said the primary goal was to improve traffic safety at the high school by separating the bus traffic from parents dropping off students.

Carpenter also said he was not in favor of widening South Finley Avenue or acquiring any land by eminent domain.

Bill Connors, who lives across the street from the high school at 265 S. Finley Ave., suggested that the 22 buses that drop off students between 7 and 7:15 a.m. be routed through the municipal complex to reduce traffic at the light on South Finley Avenue.

Connors said the option of expanding the driveway by the Board of Health office would not improve the traffic. “Why do we continue to try to make things worse?” he asked the task force. “This creates more problems than it solves.”

Eileen Walsh, 280 S. Finley Ave., echoed Connors’s suggestion, saying that directing the buses through the municipal complex would have a minimal impact on the municipal complex for only 10 minutes on 180 days of the year.

But Thomas Timko, the township’s engineer, said a report by traffic consultants found that the “geometry” of the municipal complex would not be conducive for bus traffic.

Municipal complex stone pillars seen as obstacle

That report found that the stone pillars at the entrance to the complex would be difficult for arriving and departing buses to negotiate. The report also noted that buses would have problems with the steep grades and curves of the driveways at the municipal complex.

Residents of Homestead Village — where Ridge buses have been diverted as a stopgap measure through the adjoining Cedar Hill Elementary School property since February 2012 — expressed relief that none of the options called for routing buses through their neighborhood.

“We need safety in our neighborhood,” said Peachtree Road resident Rebecca Parkinson.

Carpenter said the task force has met for six months and has spent long hours in developing and studying the options. “It’s a lot more complicated than it seems,” he said.

Township Mayor Carolyn Gaziano, another task force member, said the goal was to find a “workable” solution but, “None of the options is perfect.”