Roadwork draws early protest


Tuesday, April 25, 2006

By JOHN BRAND

Herald Senior Writer

A plan to widen and reconstruct a more than 7-mile stretch of Newton-Sparta Road is being met with opposition from a grassroots group in Sparta. The plan is still 10 years away from breaking ground.

Cappy Daggett, of Fox Trail in Sparta, had 50 lawn signs made that read "No Route 10 in Sparta," a reference to the heavily traveled road in Morris and Essex counties. Daggett has placed one sign outside her husband's law office on Newton-Sparta Road, and hopes supporters will place the signs outside their businesses and homes.

The county has been communicating with officials in the three municipalities that would be affected by construction and potential land acquisition — Newton, Andover Township and Sparta. The county also plans to seek federal funding to help cover construction costs, Assistant Sussex County Engineer John Risko added.

The county is now using a $480,000 "scoping" grant to study and evaluate the socio-economic impact the construction might have on surrounding homes and businesses. It has held public hearings on the matter.

The Sparta Planning Board will hold a hearing on the proposal May 17.

Andover Township Police Chief Phillip Coleman said the high-speed traffic along the road creates dangerous situations for drivers making turns on and off the road from a variety of businesses, and for buses exiting the Florence M. Burd elementary school.

"They have to do something. We have quite a few accidents along that stretch," Coleman said.

A Domino's pizza delivery driver was killed in February when his vehicle was struck in the rear while waiting to make a left turn from Newton-Sparta Road into the Domino's parking lot. The crash pushed his car into oncoming traffic, where it was struck head-on by another vehicle.

Coleman hopes the county will reduce the 50 mph speed limit to at most 40 mph, saying the pace of the traffic exacerbates the road's safety problems.

Newton officials have expressed concerns about the county's potential acquisition of Cono's Auto Body on the corner of Newton-Sparta Road and Diller Avenue, but agrees that some construction needs to occur.

In Sparta, Daggett says her January letter to The New Jersey Herald's editor gave rise to the grassroots group, Preserve Sparta. She said she has collected approximately 1,000 signatures against the proposal. One of her main concerns is the county's plan to prohibit some left-hand turns in favor of adding U-turn jughandles, which, she fears could cause problems for emergency vehicles.

She also is against the construction of a median between eastbound and westbound travel lanes.

"We move up here for a rural way of life," Daggett said. "I know things change and I know traffic increases but you don't need medians and jughandles. (The project) can be minimized. (The county) can reduce (its scope)."

Sussex County Administrator John Eskilson said the county takes seriously the public's comments regarding the plan. He said the plans could be altered between now and when the final design is complete.

"Whether or not we'll be able to accommodate all the comments, given traffic flow and safety, I don't know," Eskilson said. "At some point well down the road there has to be a point in time when one says 'OK, this is the project that goes.' What we have so far is the result of the best thinking to date."

Statistics show that 365 accidents occurred on Newton-Sparta Road, also known as county routes 517 and 616, from 1999 to 2001, the most recent numbers made available on the county's Web site.

The project's plans include the addition of multiple turning lanes, traffic signals, bike paths, some sidewalks and the closure of some side streets, starting at Woodside Avenue in Newton and extending through the Route 181 intersection in Sparta to just before the Route 517 bypass.

Risko said the road carries approximately 20,000 cars each day, making it the most heavily traveled county road. It is a convenient way to and from Route 15, which connects to Interstate 80. The road's peak volume is between routes 181 and 517 in Sparta, where daily traffic can top 25,000 cars a day, Risko said.

The county also plans to modify Limecrest Road, near Cumberland Farms in Andover Township. The county has proposed realigning the road at the intersection and adding a left-turn lane as an entrance to Long Pond School.

More information on the proposal can be found at www.sussex.nj.us/Cit-e-Access/webpage.cfm?TID=7&TPID=5190.