Mis-Timed Traffic Lights at Alps and Hamburg in Wayne will Have to Wait Until the County is Finished

WAYNE, NJ – The newly designed intersection of Alps Road and the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike has been under construction for two years, with “jughandles” and extra traffic lights that seem too close together and mis-timed traffic lights, causing backups and dangerous situations. During this past Town Council meeting Mayor Vergano spoke about the issue, saying that changing the timing of the traffic lights around that intersection will have to wait until the county is finished and the control of the lights are handed over to the Township.

Councilwoman-at-Large Jill Sasso brought up the subject, saying that she was stuck at one of the lights “for six-minutes before the light changed.” She asked if the timing of the lights had been addressed.

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“My answer to you would be, clearly it has not,” replied Vergano. “We are still not in control of the lights yet.”

According to the mayor, paving of the roads and new “jughandles” could be finished by the night of April 19th (weather permitting). The following week, the county will be coming back to do the striping of the roads, which should complete the project for the county.

“So, once it's turned back over to us, we will re-time the lights and attempt to make it as best as we can,” said Vergano. “But no, nothing has been done yet.”

If headed north on Alps Road coming to the intersection, there is a traffic light at the entrance to the jughandle, and about 30–40 feet away is another traffic light at the intersection of Hamburg Turnpike.

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When the first light turns green, the next light is red.

“So, you only get to go two-feet, and then you're stuck waiting,” said Vergano. “There's got to be a better way.”

“It's just dangerous,” said Sasso, who was looking to turn left onto Hamburg from Alps but was stuck at the first (jughandle) light. “I mean [traffic] was backed up all the way from Hamburg and then people were going through the red light thinking the red light wasn't working. So, that was pretty nerve wracking.  I was probably eight cars back, and just waited and waited waited. And, I was watching people drive around and going through the lights…that was just an accident waiting to happen.”

The same issue comes into play when traveling the other direction. Coming from Alps Road Extension, when the light turns green to cross the Hamburg Tpk, that next light can be red, causing a back-up of cars that sometimes blocks the main intersection of Alps and Hamburg.

“People are still making that left,” said Fifth Ward Councilwoman Fran Ritter of that intersection. “There’s no left turn signal there and no signage to say you can't do it.”

Vergano replied, “We're going to buy bigger [signs] from Amazon that I'm sure will look fine up there.”

“A straight arrow on the road will also help, too,” added Council President Jason DeStefano.

When heading westbound on the Hamburg Tpk, toward Pompton Lakes, and you need to use the new jughandle to make the left onto Alps Road, mis-timed traffic lights have you waiting as well.

Wayne Township gave Passaic County permission to do paving at night, which, according to Vergano, is to try “to alleviate the mess of paving during the day.”

We’re coming down the home stretch of this two-year project, and only a little more patience is needed until its complete. Hopefully, at that point, the township’s re-timing of the light and better signage will make the intersection a lot safer.

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