TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Preliminary plans for a traffic signal at the Garden State Parkway north Exit 168 ramp entrance onto Washington Avenue are anticipated “in the near future,” said the mayor at the July 11 council meeting.
Mayor Peter Calamari said the busy exit ramp, which permits vehicles exiting the parkway onto eastbound and westbound Washington Avenue, said it was likely the signal will be a blinking warning light during most of the day, but also used as a fully functioning traffic signal at other busier times.
There is a stop sign at the end of the exit ramp. Heavy rush-hour traffic makes left-hand turns toward Van Emburgh Avenue and Ho-Ho-Kus difficult and risky. Right-hand turns onto Washington Avenue toward the township are less difficult but bunched-up traffic at the busy intersection often obscures the visibility of oncoming vehicles.
Less than 100 yards away is traffic coming east from a large, downhill run on Washington Avenue, which crosses Van Emburgh Avenue, continues over a slightly inclined bridge traversing the parkway below, and suddenly encounters vehicles trying to turn onto Washington Avenue from the exit 168 ramp.
The council agreed in early December 2021 that additional traffic safety measures need to be considered at the Van Emburgh-Washington Avenue intersection, served currently by a blinking warning light.
With two major housing developments approved and planned along Van Emburgh Avenue — a 66-unit townhome and single family subdivision and a 44-unit apartment rental complex — former council member and mayoral candidate Michael DeSena said that the new developments “should all share” in contributing to an intersection improvements and traffic signal upgrade.
Another eight-home luxury subdivision is planned off of Gorga Place, which intersects with Washington Avenue.
In December, resident Steven Kalish said he raised safety concerns about the Van Emburgh-Washington intersection to county planners in November 2021 and had emailed his remarks to council members.
He suggested the township consider a shared-service agreement with Bergen County to improve the intersection, similar to its agreement to improve the Pascack Road–Washington Avenue nexus.
No action was taken then and it was unclear if discussions for an exit 168 signal included a discussion of the nearby intersection. It was also unclear if any new traffic studies had been done as part of the NJTA signal project on exit 168.
Outreach to NJTA for comment was not returned by press time. Pascack Press reached out to Calamari with questions about the exit 168 signal project but did not hear back by press time.
For more coverage, see “Council worries of developments’ impact at Van Emburgh-Washington crossing,” Dec. 20, 2021, Pascack Press online.
Calamari said himself, Boswell Engineering staff, local police, New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) members, and NJTA engineers met together to discuss a signal on the exit ramp.
“The meeting was productive. We will receive preliminary plans from them in the near future,” he said, during a mayor’s report where he briefly mentioned scores of topics.
Resident Michael Ullman, a former Independent councilman, said that drivers do not know how to traverse a flashing light and called a flashing signal at the ramp’s end “a recipe for disaster.”
Toni Plantamura of Robinwood Road said flashing lights “will not do anything for that intersection” at Exit 168. She said she did not believe a traffic light there “was going to resolve any issues.” She said that the township should not have agreed to upgrade the Pascack–Washington intersection until another exit ramp was opened on the Garden State Parkway.
She said improving the Pascack–Washington corner “has invited more traffic” to town.