TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—An applicant traffic expert testifying Dec. 20 for 660 Pascack LLC’s “4 Seasons Marketplace” retail proposal said the 17,000-square-foot shopping mall’s traffic impact at peak traffic hours would be “inconsequential” to overall traffic flow at a newly improved Pascack Road–Washington Avenue intersection.
Gary Dean, of Dean & Dolan, Somerville, told the Dec. 20 Zoning Board of Adjustment’s third hearing on the retail proposal that the new traffic improvements being made by the county, and his firm’s traffic analysis, shows that the new complex would “generate 43 additional vehicles over the course of a peak hour at most” and he called those additional vehicles “inconsequential” to overall traffic volume at the busy Pascack-Washington intersection.
At two prior board hearings, applicant experts providing testimony had said that the proposed, two-building, almost 17,000 square-foot retail mall was estimated to house a maximum of 11 retail shops. The applicant’s attorney, Bruce Whitaker, and experts, have said that no retail tenants will be solicited until a decision is made on the application.
Dean said his firm’s traffic analysis report was two-fold: It looked at potential traffic impacts on the surrounding roadways and internally on the site itself. He said that the new ongoing traffic flow improvements being made by Bergen County at the Pascack-Washington intersection would generally alleviate most of the traffic back-ups, delays and congestion that previously plagued the area, and this improvement would not be affected by the proposed retail complex.
At least a half-dozen residents questioned his conclusions, and resident Leonard Sabino (also Planning Board vice chair) called for an independent traffic study on the proposed retail strip mall. Dolan said he had “no problem” with an independent traffic study to corroborate his findings.
Efforts by Pascack Press to determine whether a separate study of traffic conditions would be authorized were not returned by press time. The next applicant hearing is Jan. 24, 2023, 7:30 p.m. via Zoom and in person at the Township Council chambers.
“This isn’t a Home Depot, this isn’t a ShopRite, it will be a slow and steady (traffic) neighborhood center,” said Dean. He said approximately 60 vehicles may enter and exit over an hour period, which means “about a car a minute” will be either exiting or entering.
Dean suggested possible retail shops might include a cell phone store, a card shop, or a nail salon, although the applicant attorney repeated that no decisions on future shops had been made. Previously, residents voiced concern about a possible liquor store on site, and that concern remains unresolved.
Dean said the study used traffic counts taken on Thursday, Sept 22, and Saturday, Sept. 24. He said the weekday afternoon peak traffic hour was 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. and on Saturday peak traffic volume was 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
He said during peak weekday hours, approximately 450 vehicles were traveling south past the site on Pascack Road, and slightly under 600 vehicles traveled north on Pascack. On Washington Avenue, 935 vehicles were traveling eastbound, and 675 vehicles traveled westbound past the intersection. He said Saturday traffic volumes were similar.
He rated the intersection’s “level of service” during peak weekday and Saturday hours much improved, mostly based on the intersection upgrades that add an extra travel lane going both ways on Washington Avenue.
He said the new additional travel lanes will improve traffic flow, reduce queuing, and lead to fewer backups along Pascack Road or Washington Avenue that block vehicles entering from side streets.
Dean said since the Covid-19 pandemic started, traffic engineers have seen a decrease in overall traffic volumes as more people work from home, e-commerce reduces trips to the grocery store and large shopping plazas, and demographic changes that occur as the Baby Boomer generation ages.
He said all these changes combined to create less traffic in 2022 than in 2019, which was a year before Covid hit. He said these factors in 2022 led to “slightly less traffic, (and) you will have a substantially improved intersection accommodating less traffic.”
He said that his firm had corroborated the local traffic counts performed by a consultant that they had hired, noting the subcontractor had recorded traffic counts at the intersection so they could independently confirm them.
He said the nearly 17,000 square foot shopping mall “is best characterized as a neighborhood plaza” and noted it was “not intended to attract traffic from the region, maybe a 5-mile radius at most.”
He told township planner Joseph Burgis that he would provide the locations of the 11 shopping plazas of at least 17,000 square feet that the traffic projection models had used as the basis for his study’s traffic analysis.
Dean said the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the traffic engineers’ professional association, has published updated traffic data every six years on 275 different land uses.
Dean said that he did not anticipate any “overflow parking” issues on nearby side streets, based on his traffic analysis, downplaying concerns voiced by Meisten Street residents and the police department.
Board member Michael LaGratta wondered if vendor deliveries from a large 53-foot-long trailer and tractor (a total of more than 70 feet long) could navigate the retail site. Dean told him that was not possible on site but that most product deliveries were made by box trucks or smaller tractor-trailer combinations.
LaGratta said he anticipated a lot more traffic to pass through the Pascack-Washington corner when the intersection upgrades are completed. He said local drivers are now avoiding that intersection while under construction. “You still don’t know how much traffic will come through that intersection,” he said to Dean.
Dean said a “growth factor” was included in the traffic projections to take future traffic conditions into account.
Public Comment
Resident Michael Agnello, Meisten Street, questioned Dean whether overflow parking will ever be necessary on side streets such as Meisten. Dean told him he “cannot envision any circumstance when people would park on Meisten Street.”
Kevin Zitko, Jefferson Avenue, wanted to make sure that headlights from parked cars would not shine into homes opposite the proposed mall. He was told there would be a row of shrubbery between parking spaces and Pascack Road to shield the parked cars and screen headlights.
Dean told him that intersection improvements, plus traffic from a proposed mall, would still result in easier conditions for vehicles exiting Jefferson Avenue onto Pascack to enter the roadway.
Henry Cenicola, Braeburn Drive, a resident of Northgate Condominiums directly north of the proposed mall, questioned Dean on the variables that underlied his traffic projections, such as bus stops, pedestrian crossings, estimated commuters, shoppers, and people running errands.
He told Dean he “takes exception” to his conclusion that traffic declined 2010–2022, noting that companies require employees to be in the office more now.
Dean said that while some companies are requiring in-person work, some remain “completely remote” and said some clients are demolishing office buildings. Dean noted overall traffic trends show a decline and he thinks that decline will continue.
Cenicola listed new and upcoming developments near Pascack Road, asking Dean if they were taken into account in traffic projections, including a new 38-home development, a used car lot, dental office, assisted living complex, and new Emergency Services Building.
Although Dean said he was mostly unaware of developments mentioned by Cenicola, he said that the traffic projections would remain unchanged, noting that the developments would have “no material effect” on traffic numbers and “doesnt change my conclusions.”