Politics & Government

Mayor, Freeholder at Odds Over Bypass Project

Elected officials not on same page regarding massive road change.

The is dead.

No, it’s not.

Well, it depends on whom you ask, apparently.

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Washington Township Mayor Ken Short told that the Morris County Freeholders denied a request of funds for the township to purchase land along the proposed route of the Safety Project–also known as the Schooley's Mountain bypass–and that the project was essentially dead.

But if you ask Freeholder Director Bill Chegwidden–who met with Short on the topic–if that’s the case, he’ll tell you no, as he said to Long Valley Patch recently about the topic.

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The parcel of land, located along West Mill Road, would need to be purchased and bifurcated, Short said, and the township asked for $150,000 to take the next steps in the process.

The officials aren’t , rather, why they were denied and what’s going to happen–or not happen–next.

Chegwidden says the lot the township was requesting, under the project’s master plan, was not in the Safety zone, and funding for it could not be allocated.

“It’s not that we didn’t want to give the money for this project,” Chegwidden said. “We just don’t have it available right now.”

In a letter sent from Chegwidden, on behalf of the freeholders, to Short regarding the funds, the director wrote the following:

As discussed at our meeting, which included the Assistant County Administrator and the Director of Planning and Development, all Federal transportation dollars flow through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA). Therefore, prior to our meeting, County staff reached out to the NJTPA to verify that the Congressional appropriation of $800,000 for the Long Valley Safety Project could be used to purchase a portion of Block 34, Lot 46.04, from Washington Township at a cost of $150,000 as requested by the Township. As I had advised you, the result of this research was that the funds could not legally be used for the land acquisition you requested.

As a result of the unfavorable NJTPA funding determination, the Freeholder Board did consider borrowing the $150,000 requested by Washington Township for a portion of the property, including but not limited to the right of way, but decided against it since a current funding plan to complete this project does not exist. Please understand that these funds were not sitting in a County account; they would have to be borrowed.

Short said a portion of the land in question does lie outside of the Safety zone, and that’s why it needed to be bifurcated. But the county would not do so, he said.

“(The Freeholders) said because there’s no finish date on the plan and no budget outline, there would no longer be funds available for anything having to do with this project,” Short said.

Short said Chegwidden told him during their meeting the board had no plans to go forward with the project, but the director said otherwise.

“The position of the board is to continue moving forward with this project,” Chegwidden said. “It was that way since (Washington Township resident) Margaret (Nordstrom) was on the board, and will continue to be that way.

“We’re always ,” Chegwidden continued. “And, in the meantime, we should be looking at different avenues to take regarding safety on the mountain itself.”

Still remaining are 15 parcels of land–some very small, some larger–that would need to be purchased to clear space for the project, according to county planner Deena Cybulski.

Just one of those parcels is between Camp Washington Road and West Mill Road, while the remaining 14 parcels lie in the flatter portion of town, between West Mill and Fairmount Roads, Cybulski said.

Currently 42-percent of the plan’s linear feet has been purchased, Cybulski said.

“The project is feasible, but I wouldn’t say it would be easy,” Cybulski said. The planner was also in the meeting with Short and Chegwidden earlier this month.

“It seemed, to me, that there was an understanding there would be ongoing coordination between the municipality and the county from that meeting,” Cybulski said.

Looming concerns

Short said the county is still disregarding this portion of the region, specifically Washington Township, as requested projects on county roads in town have gone by the wayside.

“We’ve been waiting three years for a crosswalk near Columbia Trail,” Short said. “When the district did away with courtesy busing last year, we asked the county put a shoulder on Bartley Road–a mile from the school–for the safety of walkers. They’ve done nothing about it.”

Short also said the township paid the majority of cost to fix the traffic signal atop Schooley’s Mountain near Washington Township Police Headquarters.

Short said he’ll be meeting with Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen on Tuesday, April 3 to discuss the ongoing process regarding the Long Valley Safety Project.


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