Task Force Preparing Options for Ridge Traffic Report

Mayor said 'marathon' meeting planned Wednesday to draw up options for March presentation.

Bernards Mayor Carolyn Gaziano said there will be a marathon meeting later Wednesday of a specially appointed task force to draw up a detailed list of options, citing pros and cons, for proposed solutions for easing morning traffic at Ridge High School, with the goal of releasing a public report in late March. Gaziano said township officials on the task force could report back at the Township Committee meeting in March. Only one committee meeting is scheduled during the month, on March 12. She said it will depend on how much the group gets done at Wednesday's meeting on whether a report will be ready by that date.  Gaziano said the report might include detailed study and maps of up to 10 different scenarios. School officials already said …

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Task Force to Examine Ridge Traffic, Meeting to be Public

Next meeting date yet to be set.

The Bernards Board of Education on Monday gave final approval to a task force, which already met last month, to address the issue of how to solve Ridge High School's longstanding traffic problems, with the goal of producing at least a status report by January. No date has been set yet for the next task force meeting, Schools Superintendent Nick Markarian said. School Board President Susan McGowan said that the task force had been planning to meet on Nov. 7, at a meeting open to the public and public comment. That meeting was canceled due to the hurricane. That meeting will be rescheduled and will be open to the public but as of Wednesday morning, the new date had not been set, she said. The members of the task force, including two school …

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Next Ridge Traffic Task Force Meeting Expected to Invite Public

Date awaiting approval of Board of Education.

Members of a newly formed Ridge High traffic task force with representatives from the Board of Education and Township Committee met last week as planned, and one decision made was that the public will be invited to the next meeting, Bernards Deputy Mayor Carolyn Gaziano said. As discussed beforehand, Gaziano said Wednesday's meeting did not include discussion of specific proposals for addressing the longstanding traffic backups that occur on school mornings at the Ridge entrance at 268 S. Finley Ave., near the traffic light at the intesection of Lake Road. Township and school officials both announced at their meetings last week that at the initial meeting they would set the parameters of a joint task force to try to address a long-term …

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Letter to the Editor

Ridge Traffic Draws Input from Former Ridge PTO President

Last year's Ridge High School president weighs in on Ridge busing issue.

Dear Editor,   I would like to weigh in on the Ridge High School (Ridge) busing issue. I fear that the best solution to the nightmarish morning traffic around Ridge — paving the access route from the Municipal Complex (MC) to Ridge for one-way bus traffic — will continue to be ignored by an inefficient Bernards Township Committee (TC).   The frustrating busing and traffic issue surrounding Ridge and Homestead Village is well known. In March, Homestead Village residents asked the TC to consider linking the MC to Ridge. Paving the existing gravel road between the MC and Ridge for bus drop-off makes sense on many levels — environmental, cost, and public safety. In addition, no other residential roads would need to be modified. Homestead …

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