Residents oppose Newton-Sparta Road renovation

Sparta - Question Sparta’s character and residents are almost certain to get offended. Not surprisingly, many were up in arms last week when county officials presented proposed changes that will likely impact the traveling routine of every local motorist on Newton-Sparta Road. But before residents get too upset, the facelift to arguably the most important, but statistically the most traveled roadway in the county, and the site of numerous accidents in recent years, won’t be seen for at least another 10 years. John Risko, an assistant county engineer, told a packed crowd in the municipal building that improvements to the roadway needed to alleviate existing traffic congestion and keep pace with the area’s growing population in the preliminary - or scoping - stages. “We know that the county continues to grow and we have a lot of problems with backups,” he said. “We have to have somewhere to begin, somewhere to move forward so that we can begin construction within 10 years.” Risko and a team of engineers presented their plans for Newton-Sparta Road to the township council, whom they hope will endorse the proposed renovations and expansion. But it was the local residents who needed the most convincing from the county officials, despite a barrage of facts related to safety and traffic congestion along a seven-mile stretch from Woodside Avenue in Newton to the Route 517 bypass near the Stop & Shop in Sparta. “You have a town with a certain character, a character that keeps us here,” said Sparta resident Gary Myers, who travels to work in Denville each day. “This is going to change the character of town.” Corey L. Stoner, of Frankford-based Harold E. Pellow & Associates, a design consultant for the project, went down a list of plans the county intends to implement at some stage including traffic signals, dedicated turn lanes, and a 12-foot center median to separate an additional two lanes of travel in each direction from routes 517 to 181. “We’re preparing for tomorrow, not just for today,” said Stoner. “The improvements that we’re proposing are not for next year or the next five years, but for 30 years down the road.” More than 25,000 vehicles pass through Newton-Sparta Road from the Route 517 intersection at Pope John High School to Route 181 near the center of town during any given 24-hour period. In the last five years, at least 300 accidents - mostly rear-end collisions - were reported along the stretch of road, Stoner said. The risk increases even more during morning and evening peak hours when upwards of 2,300 motorists are either traveling to or from work. While the proposal to establish a center median to divide two lanes of travel in each direction from routes 517 through 181 was greeted with much public disfavor, a plan to restrict North and South Shore trails to right turns in and out of Lake Mohawk were met with equal disdain. “Whose idea was this?” said Melba Cummings, a township resident for more than 50 years. “Can you imagine the impact on our schools and busing (children). I’m so distressed by what’s happening to our town. It makes a Route 10 out of Sparta. It’s awful.” The county also has designs for traffic signals at Wagonwheel Road before the entrance to Sparta Commons and at the intersection of Sussex Mills Road. “We should be getting traffic off of Newton-Sparta Road; that’s what I think we should be really looking into,” said Sparta resident Katherine Daggett. “We should be encouraging traffic to take a different direction.” A shared left-turn lane in the “gazebo” shopping plaza is also proposed, as well as dedicated left- and right-turn lanes onto Pinckneyville Road. County officials are in the process of applying for federal funds to complete the current scoping phase of the project - valued at $480,000 alone - and enter the design stage. The project is expected to cost $10 to $15 million in total, said Risko. Since the project started two years ago, county officials have had a number of public meetings to gather input from Newton, Andover, and Sparta residents. Now, the project leaders are asking for the support of each municipality before moving forward. “The best method would be for our planning board to look at this,” said Sparta Mayor Alish Hambel. “They can give us feedback. This is more in their scope and experience than our council.”