Old Jacksonville Road May Get Weight Restriction

The briefly discussed placing a weight ordinance on Old Jacksonville Road to alleviate some of the traffic concerns of residents from commercial vehicles frequenting the roadway as a shortcut to several Lincoln Park businesses.

Old Jacksonville Road resident Tim Holmes asked the township committee to consider conducting a traffic study in the area and said that the residents of his street are concerned about the traffic that is unrelated to the Township of Montville. Holmes said the business owners and patrons use the road to get to the businesses.

"All those businesses are in Lincoln Park, however, they have no access to their businesses from Lincoln Park," he said.

A bigger issue, Holmes said, is the traffic flow of heavy commercial vehicles traveling through the residential neighborhood. Borough Attorney Bob Oostdyk said municipalities can typically control commercial traffic in residential areas by placing weight limits on the roadways by ordinance.

"I'd like to have some kind of traffic study or something down there," Holmes said.

Mayor Tim Braden said that he visited the area after hearing Holmes' concerns but that he was not quite sure what would be the best approach for the township to curb the problem. He asked Township Administrator Victor Canning Tuesday to consult the township engineer.

Canning initially said he agreed that a weight ordinance may help, but that he was concerned about pushing the issue on to Indian Lane East.

"I don't want to take a problem from you and dump it on Indian Lane," he said.

But Holmes said there are no residences that would be affected on Indian Lane East. Canning said he would speak with the township engineer and additionally, Braden suggested the township consider better signage that describes which parts of the road only permit one-way traffic.