Byram gets green light from the state on Route 206 intersection

BYRAM - The State Department of Transportation cancelled a June meeting with the Byram Township Council, inspiring Councilman Lou Esposito Jr. to call it “the best meeting we never had.” The state has agreed to modify the summer and winter cycles of the traffic signals on Route 206. Township Manager Gregory Poff said the township has a need for the extra 150 seconds delay on Route 206 rather than the current 120 seconds which takes place during afternoon and evening hours while commuters are returning from work. He said the state has agreed to the current course of directional lighting delays. “They have agreed to modification to the signals along 206 and to extending the summer cycle through mid-September,” said Poff. The current summer cycle ends in early August. The township officials believe the lighting delay cycles should be similarly modified. A delayed green light was instituted a few years back in response to the increase in northbound traffic during the summer, when vacationers are frequenting the lakeside communities. Senior Transportation Another commuting issue was created when the senior citizen bus was destroyed in an accident on May 31. Byram officials are reaching out to the board of education to assist with the dilema; however, a resolution is not expected to come any time soon. “Once summer school is over, the Byram Board of Education may be able to free up a bus in mid-August,” Poff said. Byram offers bus services to local seniors who need transportation to attend doctors appointments, shopping and other necessities. “The significant impact is on three or four residents who have no alternate means of transporation,” said Poff.