Valley Lawyer: No Expansion, No Traffic Upgrades

Proposed changes at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood would significantly reduce the amount of traffic in the area, a traffic engineer testified May 1 at the planning board meeting. But don't expect the hospital to offer up any improvements unless its large 'Renewal II' expansion plan is approved by the village, its lawyer said.

Should the 'Renewal' be approved, 430 trips per day would be eliminated, including 75 during the peak morning hours and 104 during school dismissal times, according to traffic engineer Charles Olivo.

Valley has applied for an amendment to the Master Plan that, if approved, would see the 562,000 square foot facility increase its bed count to 454 beds and 77 percent greater hospital floor space. Buildings would be knocked down with new ones constructed, along with the Phillips parking garage.

A host of traffic improvements were suggested, including the widening of roads, adding four-way stops and key intersections, resignaling lights, and even adding motion detection cameras that would signalize lights based on real-time traffic conditions.

Traffic upgrades hinge on expansion approval

The proposals sounded promising, Mayor Paul Aronsohn said. But they're not necessarily contingent on the hospital receiving approval on its plan. Why can't the hospital offer up the changes irrespective of the fate of Renewal II, he asked.

"It's part of the Master Planning, we put it out there – if the Master Plan is not approved, the improvements are not going to happen," responded Valley lawyer Jonathan Drill, who tangled with Aronsohn the night prior. "I mean quite frankly, this is to help to encourage the Planning Board to grant the Master Plan Amendment. Let's be totally frank about it."

"If you know the current conditions are so bad, why not just step forward now and partner with the Village?" Aronsohn asked. In response, Drill said developers/applicants never volunteer to improve traffic without approval of their respective plans.

Chairman shuts down mayor

Unexpectedly, Planning Board Chairman Charles Nalbantian put a stop to Aronsohn's questioning.

"I don't think you need to press it any further," he said to Aronsohn, later exclaiming he needed to "maintain order" and then calling for an intermission.

Upon returning to the meeting, Drill said he "wanted to make clear" that the hospital is "not making an offer or a gift to get some sort of approval," which could lead to accusations.

"The hospital wants to improve the roadway as part of its Master Plan to upgrade its facility," he said. "It believes that the roadway should also be upgraded. And it has to be connected in our legal opinion it cannot just be at out of the kindness of can the hospital's heart to do something like this."

Drill also said the county to a large extent calls the shots, as they own Linwood and Van Dien.

"We provide a tax-free location for their business, we provide police, fire and other services at no cost to them and they won't help mitigate their impact on our traffic,'' Concerned Residents of Ridgewood (CRR) chairman Pete McKenna said, according to northjersey.com. "How neighborly.'

Existing problems

The intersections surrounding the hospital currently merit an "F" grade due to a myriad of factors – there are no left turn lanes at most intersections, which causes traffic to queue; pedestrians are given priority during school opening/closing hours on Linwood, backing up traffic; Valley shift changes occur at school departure times; commuter traffic mixes with school and hospital traffic during peak hours, all along busy single-lane roads.

Vehicles are held up an additional 70-90 seconds on roads surrounding Valley, Olivo testified.

Proposed improvements

The southerly driveway along North Van Dien would be moved north to help improve traffic flow. Linwood and North Van Dien would be widened along Valley's property to add turning lanes. In addition, "smart" motion detection cameras would control the light signal based on current traffic conditions. Traffic would be prohibited from turning left onto John Street, and a four-way stop sign would be installed at East Glen Avenue, Red Birch and North Van Dien. Construction workers would be shuttled to Valley from off-site, as would some hospital employees.

In short, the proposed changes would vastly upgrade the traffic conditions around the hospital, Olivo testified.

It's still not clear if the county will approve changes to East Glen, Linwood and North Van Dien, though Valley officials said they think the county would view the plan favorably.

Residents opposed to the plan remain skeptical.

"It is refreshing to hear the hospital acknowledge their activity impacts local traffic, but we have no guarantees this volume of traffic, or more, won't return once 400,000 square feet of additional hospital space is built,'' McKenna told northjersey.com.

Testimony will continue on May 29 at Ridgewood High School.