Council, BOE Outline Plan to Ease WHS Traffic, Parking Woes

The and , in conjunction with The RBA Group, believe they have created a feasible plan that would alleviate traffic and congestion around and . 

“We don’t have a whole lot of space to deal with,” said Councilwoman Jo Ann Neylan, Chair of the Public Safety, Transportation & Parking Committee. “These are feasible solutions.”

Gordon Meth of The RBA Group explained the proposed changes announced at the special Board of Education meeting at WHS on Wednesday. First, the town proposes creating a bus “pull-out,” or cutout, on Rahway Avenue to ease the congestion slow caused by school bus unloading.   

Meth also announced a plan to contact the New Jersey Department of Transportation to extend the time of the signal at the intersection of West Board Street and South Avenue, adding 10 additional seconds to West Broad Street, permitting seven more cars to utilize a single signal change.

This change will only be in effect in the afternoon hours, as their study showed they are unable to make this change in the morning hours without causing a detriment to traffic. Meth said this traffic signal change would not have “any real negative consequences.” 

The proposal also included adding 33 parking spaces at the side of the existing high school parking lot, adjacent to Rahway Avenue and Dorian Road. It would also add a right turn only exit from this lot to assist in a more effective traffic flow. 

Additional parking spaces were also proposed for the Armory parking lot, by way of restriping, or re-drawing out new parking spaces to allow for an additional 19 parking spaces, resulting in 37 total spaces. 

The addition of 55 parking spaces is also being proposed at Edison School, for use by WHS students as well as those attending sporting events at Kehler Stadium. 

Also proposed were the implementation of changes in restricted parking on Edgar Road, Dorian Road, Dorian Court, Dorian Place, Shadowlawn Drive, and Nottingham Place. Eastbound parking on Edgar Road would be added, eastbound parking on Dorian Road would be restricted from 8 a.m.to 2 p.m. on weekdays, southbound parking would be restricted on Dorian Court and Dorian Place, eastbound parking would be restricted on Shadowlawn Drive, and restricted parking would be in effect northbound on Nottingham Place. Restricted parking would not apply to residents of these streets if they purchase a parking permit from the town.

A fee of $10 would be assessed to obtain these permits. The net increase in spaces including all of these changes would amount to 27 spaces. Councilman James Foerst described the number one goal of the proposals announced tonight was to “increase traffic safety.”

He further explained that by deterring on-street parking and offering off-street parking through lots at WHS, Edison and the Armory, it would provide an overall increase in capacity, resulting in an increase in safety. 

Bill Wertheimer of Nottingham Place addressed the Council and BOE on the proposed changes, asking why residents would have to pay a fee to park on their own street.

“Could you explain to all of us why, as taxpayers when we’re paying to maintain the streets, (why) then we’d have to pay an additional $10 to park in front of our own house?" he asked. 

Neylan responded saying the $10 fee would be assessed due to the costs associated with the town having to issue a parking permit, explaining, “It’s a policy decision we’ve made throughout town, there are plenty of streets where there is restrictions for one reason or another that a nominal fee is attached to it.” 

The BOE will be voting to adopt or reject these proposals on May 15, and the Town Council will be voting on the same issue May 22. Both of these meetings will be open to the public.