ALLENTOWN – A municipal panel that is seeking ways to mitigate the impact of heavy trucks and thousands of motor vehicles that pass through Allentown on a daily basis is asking Gov. Phil Murphy to review the situation and to provide whatever assistance he can.
In a June 25 letter to Murphy, Patricia Brown, a co-chair of the Allentown Traffic Advisory Committee, and Kurt Wayton, the secretary of the committee, sought to bring New Jersey’s new governor up to speed on a “major problem” that has been vexing Allentown.
Brown and Wayton informed Murphy the Allentown Traffic Advisory Committee is “urging the New Jersey Department of Transportation to review the impacts of trucks on the Allentown Historic District to ensure its long-term viability. … We ask that you consider the truck traffic solution of taking our village off the 500 series as part of the New Jersey Truck Access Network.
“Several traffic problems were created as a result of the new Amazon/Matrix complex warehouses in Robbinsville, Mercer County. Traffic back-ups on Interstate I95 exiting to the Allentown area and log-jams along Main Street in Allentown appeared in the national news over the 2016 winter holidays,” they wrote.
“Early meetings with the representatives partially alleviated that immediate problem by staggering shifts. But the group has moved forward with various major federal and county roadwork proposals initiated by several developers. Road improvements that have been proposed this year and their unintended consequences risk exacerbating our problems beyond repair and seriously damaging a New Jersey treasure.
“While portions of the 500 Series routes are not considered to be part of the New Jersey Access Network, as per (state law), apparently, those which come through Allentown are considered to be one of the last parts of the New Jersey Access Network.
“Traffic backs up for miles in several directions, in, through, and out of Allentown at various times of the day. County roads meeting at Allentown are impacted by improvements to Interstate 195 and the New Jersey Turnpike, and by major development along U.S. Route 130 (i.e., Hamilton Marketplace, Robbinsville Town Center II, and the new Hamilton FedEx complex),” Brown and Wayton wrote.
“We are also impacted by Allentown’s role as a back route to the shore, general growth in central, north and south Jersey, school traffic, and large truck traffic on county roads too narrow to accommodate them. Our county engineer, Joe Ettore, informs us the problem is
complicated by the fact that we lie on a federal and state truck route.
“Herein lies another issue. We’ve always been plagued with heavy traffic on Church Street (Route 526) and through our Main Street and High Street (Route 524 and Route 539). Traffic studies were done in 2016 and 2017 and found that approximately 10,000 vehicles go through our village daily. In this mix are dump trucks, cement mixers, Atlantic City buses, 53-foot-long tractor-trailers, car carriers, delivery trucks and the usual school buses.
“We have been experiencing truck accidents at our center intersection causing property damage … Allentown must pay for. On a given day there were 37 dump trucks in one hour. … We have additional problems navigating emergency services through the area to service crises for fires and first aid,” they wrote.
“Our struggling businesses desire relief from heavy, non-terminating traffic as it deters customers and weakens property values. Our Borough Council passed a non-terminating truck ordinance in October 2016 and is still waiting for final approval from the state.
“We are also concerned for the safety of everyone, especially the children that have to walk to school. There is no school bus service for our borough and in many areas no sidewalks. A boy was seriously hit on his way to school this past winter. We are also concerned with the diminishing (structural) integrity of our residences and businesses that are within the historic district,” Brown and Wayton wrote.
The representatives of the Allentown Traffic Advisory Committee informed Murphy that Allentown dates to 1706; covers 0.6 square miles; is comprised of about 1,800 residents and is the steward of what may be the largest contiguous historic district in New Jersey, comprised of 221 sites, a mill and millpond (a federal wildlife preserve), and numerous creeks.
On behalf of the committee, Brown and Wayton told the governor they “would be glad to assist you in any way we can in producing further information to preserve the long-term viability of the historic district in Allentown.”
