New traffic pattern in Wayne already fraying nerves of some drivers
WAYNE — A new traffic pattern at Alps Road and Hamburg Turnpike is vexing motorists and residents who live near the intersection, but Passaic County officials who designed the changes are urging patience.
Township officials also registered their frustration, asserting that there should be better synchronization of the freshly installed traffic lights.
They also want clearer road markings and more signs to point drivers where to go.
The work involved the construction of a jughandle east of Alps Road and south of Hamburg Turnpike, plus improved drainage, new sidewalks and widening of both arteries. The project is meant to alleviate congestion and queuing of vehicles at the main intersection.
Jennifer Rinaldo told the Township Council that she had not yet adjusted to the changes. She and her family live near the affected crossroads, on Grandview Drive.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” she said at a public meeting on Dec. 20.
Her husband, Robert Rinaldo, said he was concerned about the safety of inexperienced drivers, including his teenage daughter. The busy intersection is about 1,200 feet north of the entrance to DePaul Catholic High School.
“Fight for the township residents, if you need to,” he told the council. “Because it just doesn’t seem to make sense.”
The $6.2 million project, which began in April 2022, was delayed for six months as the contractor waited for utility poles to be moved.
Most of the cost was covered through grants from the state Department of Transportation.
The lights were put in at each end of the jughandle: At the Hamburg Turnpike entrance to Preakness Shopping Center, and at Alps Road and Grandview Drive. In addition, the existing signal was replaced.
Costly project
Keith Furlong, a county spokesman, said the price of the project would have been much steeper before officials revised its design to remove a third light at the Alps Road entrance to the shopping center.
But widening the roads was an expensive undertaking in and of itself.
The county acquired almost two dozen strips of land in the right of way, and in some cases, the properties had to be seized through eminent domain.
The jughandle eliminates the ability for westbound drivers to turn left from Hamburg Turnpike to Alps Road. Those who want to do that must now turn at the shopping center light — the signal allows left-hand turns from all approaches.
There is also a dedicated lane for northbound drivers turning left from Alps Road to Hamburg Turnpike.
“The inconvenience experienced during this phase is short-term, but the benefits of this project will be lasting,” Furlong said in a statement. “We are committed to enhancing our community’s transportation network.”
Furlong said the project will be completed in the spring. The lights were put into operation on Dec. 15, but crews will return in a few months, he said, to install cast-in-place concrete medians — sometimes called Jersey barriers.
At the same time, Furlong said, the contractor will finish paving and striping the roads.