Route 23 ‘summit' aimed at addressing chronic traffic congestion

Fifty years ago, old-timers say, cattle slowly crossed Route 23 freely from one pasture to another, but today travelers from towns along the 53-mile state highway agree that overcrowding is growing as the population along the route increases. Congestion along the Route 23 corridor brings traffic to a standstill, fraying tempers and wasting fuel. The road carries some 18,000 vehicles every day through the county and is one of the county’s two “backbone roads,” the other being Route 94. Believing that there is strength in numbers, Vernon Councilman Austin Carew called for a “summit meeting” that drew officials from Wantage, Hamburg, Sussex Borough, West Milford and Jefferson, in addition to representatives of State Sen. Robert Littell and State Assemblywoman Allison McHose to talk about plans for the road. The goal, Carew said, was to assemble the strength to persuade the N.J. Department of Transportation to do an in-depth study of traffic conditions along the Route 23 corridor, and to come up with a plan to ease traffic congestion across Sussex, Morris and Passaic counties. Route 23 starts in Essex County as a four-lane divided highway, and passes through West Milford (Passaic County) and Jefferson (Morris County), before entering Sussex County in the Stockholm section of Hardyston, and continuing past Franklin, Hamburg, Sussex, and through Wantage to the edge of High Point State Park. Since being elected to the Vernon council in 2005, Carew has made Vernon and its transportation challenges his prime focus. “We have an awful lot of residents affected by this road,” Carew said. “We thought we could get a good exchange of ideas going and we did.” Carew expressed disappointment that the number of attendees had been small, and said he hoped to have a larger crowd in attendance at subsequent meetings. Debbie Hirt, a community relations official with the N.J. Department of Transportation, told the group to inform her department of where the most serious traffic problems are. Wantage Administrator James Doherty said that inviting comments from town planners and engineers, many of whom represent several local municipalities, might help for future meetings. Meanwhile, some progress already is occurring in selected highway sections in the county. In August, the state announced plans to realign and add left-turn lanes to the Route 23-Route 94 intersection in Hamburg, where traffic on Route 94 North waiting to turn left towards Sussex and Wantage often has to wait through two or more signal changes, and traffic waiting to turn south towards Franklin experiences similar delays. Monday night, the Hamburg Borough Council reported that the long-awaited project could begin next spring. The state had hoped to begin work this year, but acquiring the needed property for the right-of-way took longer than expected. In addition, the state is studying other stretches of road in cooperation with Wantage and Franklin officials. Although conditions on the road have been a topic of local conversation for years, the problem-solving process has just begun, Carew observed, adding that he and other officials believe they owe it to the townspeople and tourists who use the road to come up with a workable plan. “If we look at it in the big picture as a corridor, we need to create a plan and a coalition and to see what the problems might be, and even think about addressing it from a federal prospect,” he said. “As it is, the traffic is terrible, but there aren’t any quick fixes.” Carew added that efforts had been made to time the traffic signals and to encourage businesses along the corridor to use flextime and alternate hours. Other Vernon efforts to ease congestion on Route 23 and elsewhere in the town have centered on the need for public transportation. Vernonites commuting to New York City or to other New Jersey locations have to travel to Warwick, Hardyston or Sparta to catch an N.J. Transit bus. Township manager Don Teolis and Carew agreed that the issues associated with Route 23 congestion bore on both economics and quality of life, and that to begin to devise the solution, a lot more people would have to get on board. The Route 23 issue is certain to be a hot topic at the next Vernon council meeting on Nov. 12, Carew said. proposed route would include Sussex, Wantage, Hamburg, Crystal Springs, and Franklin. The other would transport passengers from MacAfee, Great Gorge Village, Mountain Creek, and the Vernon Town Center. Vernon Township Manager Don Teolis and Carew agreed that the issues associated with Route 23 congestion bore on both economics and quality of life, and that to begin to devise the solution, a lot more people would have to get on board. The Route 23 issue is certain to be a hot topic at the next Vernon council meeting on Nov. 12, Carew said.