Resident: Town should have stopped road plan
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - Residents upset with a new school driveway being built behind their homes last week took their concerns to a new venue, the Township Council.

Those who live on Rachel Drive, adjacent to ongoing construction at the Hammarskjold Middle School, recently reached a compromise with school officials that is designed to alleviate some of the effects of the school's expansion and the new driveway that runs adjacent to their backyards.

However, the residents have lingering discontent over the fact that the expansion and new traffic pattern were allowed to move forward without input from the township during its design phase. Residents were not formally notified of the school plan, something that is not required by New Jersey law, and the township allowed the driveway plan to move forward without comment.

At a Sept. 25 Township Council meeting, Rachel Drive resident Louisa Lee said that all parties involved overlooked effects such as noise and odors brought about by the construction and the eventual use of the new roadway, which residents said was originally intended to be just a few feet from some of the rear property lines.

She and other residents learned of the roadway only this summer as construction began.

"This is my mid-summer nightmare," Lee said.

Lee commended Superintendent of Schools Jo Ann Magistro for her help in trying to resolve the problem - school officials recently redesigned the plan so that the curb line will be about 12 feet from the residential yards, and the district will build a sound barrier, plant trees and install a gate on the driveway limiting it to school traffic.

Lee, while also thanking Mayor William Neary and the Township Council, said she is still upset about the events that led to the road's construction.

She said that unless school officials are lying, a schematic of the road was submitted to the township's Planing and Engineering Department for review in March 2004, and that the township had time to make comments or seek revisions, but did not.

She also noted that the school district met with the township's administration and public safety director, and that changes were made to the construction design for the Central Elementary School. But no modifications were made for the road near Hammarskjold.

Township Attorney Michael Baker confirmed that the planning and engineering staff reviewed the plans, as did the police director, but said the Planning Board did not. By law, the board is not required to do so for school projects.

Lee said she was surprised that, for a project costing over $100 million, no one seems to have paid attention to a road design that would have such an impact on adjacent residents.

"Nobody says anything," she said of the process.

She attributed the problem to a lack of communication between the council, the Planning Board and the community. She previously told the Sentinel that she wants an explanation from the township.

"The town needs to explain why it never reviewed these plans responsibly," she said.

Lee's comments during the meeting drew applause from part of the audience.

Victor Angeline, a Rachel Drive resident and attorney, said the township needs to start using its powers to get the school district to improve the situation.

He noted that a couple of hundred trees between the school and Ryders Lane have been cleared and should be replaced by the district because they served as a noise buffer for some residents.

He also suggested that more devices be used to monitor the vibrations from construction, another aspect that bothers residents. Only one such device has been placed there by the district, but more are needed, he said.