Politics & Government

Schooley's Mountain Safety Hot Topic at Wednesday Committee Meeting

Morris County asks township for input on safety issues for town's most traveled roadway.

Morris County is conducting a report on the safety of Schooley’s Mountain Road, and has asked the township to weigh in.

That’s one of the discussion topics on the township committee’s agenda for Wednesday night’s work session meeting, and the governing body will be giving its input on a handful of topics concerning the road, according to administrator Andrew Coppola.

The county is conducting a comprehensive look at the entire road, Coppola said, and the township committee has received input from the Department of Public Works and police department. The township will likely look at three specific areas to start, including “Big Turn,” the intersection of Schooley’s Mountain Road and Camp Washington Road, and the light at East Mill Road and Schooley’s Mountain Road.

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Two head-on crashes have occurred in the past two weeks near house number 63 on the county roadway, between Camp Washington Road and “Big Turn.” Of the four drivers in the two separate incidents, none were Washington Township residents.

Drivers are also often stuck in a logjam heading northbound on the roadway when large vehicles, specifically tractor-trailers, are unable to traverse the large, angled “Big Turn.”

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A decades-long conversation regarding a bypass project that would route vehicles heading southbound directly down the side of Schooley’s Mountain and beyond East Mill Road has stalled in recent years, after former Morris County Freeholder Director Bill Chegwidden said the county would no longer set aside money for planning on the safety project.

The announcement came shortly after then-Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen secured nearly three-quarters of a million dollars for the project.

The Washington Township Committee work session meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the municipal building. Residents are encouraged to attend and the meeting is open to the public. 


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