WEST MILFORD

West Milford wants Route 23's S-curves straightened

David M. Zimmer
NorthJersey
The S-curves section of northbound Route 23 in West Milford as seen in July 2014.

WEST MILFORD — A state plan to reconstruct a 2-mile section of Route 23 starting in 2022 is not getting support from the Township Council because the proposal does not include plans to straighten a dangerous stretch of highway that runs through the township.

Township officials support improvements to the state highway, Mayor Bettina Bieri said. But the council is not keen on the state Department of Transportation plan officials presented this spring because it does not include plans to straighten a series of reverse curves, often called S-curves, along Route 23, she said.

“It’s better than nothing, but it’s not what we want,” the mayor said.

The plans include repaving Route 23 between mileposts 17.6 and 19.8 and closing the U-turn near New City Road, which is also now closed. The northbound lanes between the Butler line and the Macopin Reservoir water treatment plant will be regraded to reduce accident rates along that section.

The 2-mile stretch of road served as a two-lane expressway before the creation of the split four-lane highway in the 1960s. The northbound lanes' crowned design are a remnant of their former life as a two-way highway, and that design pushes cars toward the outside lanes and away from the apex of the turns, to occasionally disastrous results.

State records show that more than 10 percent of 180 accidents reported on Route 23 in West Milford in 2015 were within several hundred feet of the entrance to the S-curves near Germantown Road.

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Last week, the council unanimously rejected a resolution in support of the project. The council was asked to approve it at the request of Transportation Department representatives, so that they could proceed with design work. Council members said they have requested alternative options — namely roadway straightening — but have yet to hear back from department officials.

“Will it improve? Yes. Is it the ultimate improvement? No,” Councilman Tim Wagner said of the state's plans. "They were actually very clear that they would not straighten the S-turns because of the cost factor.”

A department spokesman declined to comment on the township's decision to reject the resolution, because the department had yet to be notified by the municipality.

State officials have said any road straightening in the area would greatly increase complications and costs. The stretch of road is flanked by preserved watershed and a public water supply and exists mainly on the side of a rocky slope.

Transportation Department workers installed additional street-level signs, rumble strips and solid white lines to discourage lane changes at the entrance to the S-curves in May 2012 — a year after a motorcyclist lost his leg in the stretch. A digital message board to provide driver alerts is currently under construction.

Lou Signorino, the council president, and others said they are hopeful the message of discontent will result in further examination of the project before it reaches the preliminary engineering stage. Substantial modifications could save lives, he said.

“We’re talking about supporting what they call the reconstruction of Route 23, which is more of a misnomer," he said. "It’s kind of like putting a Band-Aid over the whole thing."