Intersection improvements are off the table
DOT takes step back after years of study at Routes 9 & 520
BY REBECCA MORTON
Staff Writer

A "no build" decision has been reached after several years of study, putting a stop to plans for improvements at the intersection of Route 9 and Route 520 in Marlboro.

According to a letter dated July 20 written to members of Marlboro's Community Advis-ory Committee by Zoila Mejia-Aragona, project manager, New Jersey Department of Transportation - Division of Project Planning and Development, the DOT has decided to withdraw the advancement of intersection improvements.

Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg reacted with a sense of frustration to the news that the DOT will apparently not recommend any improvements be made to the intersection of Route 9 and Route 520. The intersection has long been one of Marlboro's traffic hot spots, and the Community Advisory Committee had been working for several years with the DOT in an attempt to improve the bottleneck.

A revised Initially Preferred Alternative (IPA), a plan that was developed in the hope of easing problems at the intersection, included directing traffic off Route 9 north through a round-about within the Marlboro Plaza (Pathmark) shopping center.

The revised IPA had been presented by Kleinberg at the April 12 Township Council meeting. At that time an official declaration opposing the revised IPA was made. The resolution the council voted on stated that police had concerns regarding public safety over the part of the plan that involved directing highway traffic into the internal circulation aisles of the Marlboro Plaza.

The mayor and council said they would accept further suggestions from the DOT in an effort to accomplish the protection of the best interests of public safety within the township.

Kleinberg was perturbed last week when mention of the DOT's decision to abandon Marlboro was broached to him by the News Transcript. He said three ideas to improve the intersection of Route 9 and Route 520 were initially proposed, none of which turned out to be feasible, before the DOT came up with the idea of sending traffic through the shopping center.

"Our police, our citizens committee and our public officials attended many meetings to try and come up with a solution to this intersection. Originally there were three alternatives. Late in the process the DOT came up with a fourth plan - to take traffic off of Route 9 north and send it through the Pathmark shopping plaza to Route 520.

"Everyone thought that was ridiculous. The DOT came up with something that was so ridiculous they knew we wouldn't do it. The DOT wasted our time and money sending people down there. It was a dog and pony show and now they will take their money to another town," Kleinberg said.

Sgt. Joseph Lenge of the Marlboro Police Department's traffic safety division said the plan to divert traffic from Route 9 through the Pathmark shopping center and out to Route 520 would not have been a good option. Lenge and township engineers believed the proposed round-about into the Marlboro Plaza would create more problems than it would solve.

According to DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon, the goal of the project was to reconfigure the intersection to enhance safety and mobility for drivers. Phalon said the DOT decided to curtail the Route 9 and Route 520 improvement project because of a lack of local support.

She noted that there is a project under way on Route 9 south between Texas Road in Old Bridge and Robertsville Road in Marlboro (Route 520 is Robertsville Road on the west side of Route 9). The work, which began in July, is converting the shoulder into a third traffic lane.

Phalon said the project on Route 9 south should reduce bottlenecking that occurs in that particular stretch of the highway. The project to create the third traffic lane is expected to be completed sometime in the fall, she said.

A private developer has already made some improvements to the Robertsville Road and Route 9 intersection, including crosswalks for pedestrians, according to Phalon.