Project's proximity irks residents
New school roadway runs along rear property lines of Rachel Dr. homes
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Rachel Drive resident Jeffrey Feuchtbaum looks from a residential yard at the adjacent construction trailers and the foundation of a new roadway at East Brunswick's Hammarskjold Middle School.

Saying construction at the adjacent Hammarskjold Middle School and an accompanying new roadway are just too close for comfort, residents of East Brunswick's Rachel Drive are pleading with school officials to address their concerns.

Residents said construction of the new roadway along their rear property lines is causing excessive noise and will also do so once school buses are using it. The Hammarskjold construction kicked off in July, and school officials have met with the residents to hear their complaints.

In a letter dated July 30, the Rachel Drive residents called for the elimination of the proposed road, which will run alongside the school and extend from Rues Lane to Ryders Lane. Residents expressed frustration that they were only notified of the work less than one week before it was scheduled to start.

CHRIS KELLY staff Jeffrey Feuchtbaum, who sees the nearby construction from his kitchen window, and neighbors have been corresponding with East Brunswick and school officials in hopes of securing a greater buffer and other changes to plans for the Hammarskjold Middle School addition.

"We are suffering greatly from this project," resident Jeffrey Feuchtbaum wrote to Superintendent of Schools Jo Ann Magistro in another letter, dated Aug. 15. "My house is vibrating and shaking so intensely I can hear the sound of the vibrations from outside the house. It is so unbearable, I went to the construction trailer and had the project engineer come into my house to witness the disturbances herself."

Patricia LaDuca, school coordinator of community relations and programs, told the Sentinel that the Board of Education is committed to taking the appropriate action in this matter, and that it is currently awaiting the results of a study determining the project's impact on the neighboring residential properties before taking action.

"We have listened to the Rachel Drive residents," LaDuca said, later adding, "Business Administrator and Board Secretary Bernardo Giuliana and the superintendent have met with them on several occasions. They have listened to their concerns and understand their concerns."

The tests will determine the level of noise the construction is causing, LaDuca said.

"These kinds of things take time," LaDuca said. "Their concerns have been heard, listened to and understood. What exactly is going to be done is still on the table."

The purpose of the roadway is for school buses and parents to have access to a drop-off and pick-up area for students, LaDuca said. She added that, while the concerns of the residents are being considered, the location of the roadway cannot be changed at this point in the process.

"Taking the road out [of the project] is not an option," LaDuca said. "It is already planned and it is the only place it can go, with the way that the building is being situated."

The road will be gated when it is not being used for the school traffic, LaDuca said, adding that the circulation pattern was designed in the best interests of the safety and security of students.

"It is not going to be free public access 24/7. It is really for drop-off and pick-up," LaDuca said.

LaDuca reiterated that the board will decide what course of action to take on the matter when it reviews the results of the study.

Giuliana said the studies will examine any issues related to sound and noise distribution, and their effect on neighboring properties.

"We have said that we would have a study completed, and then the board would be taking action," Giuliana said.

The board, he said, is hoping to have reports within the next two weeks from an engineering firm that specializes in sound studies. He said the firm has already collected sound measurements at the site for analysis.

Discussion on the construction project, which includes additions at Hammarskjold and two elementary schools, dates back two and a half years, Giuliana noted, adding that there have been ongoing reports and updates discussed publicly since that time. In early July, a letter was sent to residents near Hammarskjold inviting them to review the project with school officials, Giuliana said, adding that the opportunity for comment on the proposal would have to have preceded that meeting.

"Anyone who wished to provide input or any comments," Giuliana said, "would have had to have done [so] during that two-and-a-half-year period."

Feuchtbaum disagreed with the contention that residents should have known the details years ago.

"The road was not a part of the plan [for construction] years ago," Feuchtbaum said. "It was a recent addition. They keep telling us that we could have spoken up years ago about it, but it was not in the plan."

In a petition dated July 30 and signed by the owners of 10 homes on Rachel Drive, the residents called for the elimination of the road, an 8-foot-high berm, and the planting of 100 white pines 14 feet in height.

In an Aug. 2 letter to Mayor William Neary, the residents called for limited use of the new roadway, the narrowing of its width to 20 feet, the planting of 120 white pines in specified locations, and the installation of a 14-foot-high decorative barrier wall on school property along the rear property line of three homes.

LaDuca said the board will explore the suggested solutions, but added that the barrier wall would likely be too expensive for the district and an eyesore to the community. She added that landscaping could be a possibility.

Feuchtbaum said it is not just residents of Rachel Drive who are concerned about the noise caused by the construction work.

"Even the people on the other side of the street [from the construction] are affected by the noise and are worried about their property values."

Feuchtbaum also said dust storms occur when the wind blows or when equipment is operating in close proximity to his home.

"Every day, dump trucks and other heavy equipment pass less than 50 feet from my house, and clouds of dust suffocate our property," Feuchtbaum said. "This project has destroyed what used to be a very peaceful street to live on. Nowhere in this township has there been a more invasive project, and it is only getting worse by the day."