Mahwah August 4, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 7 Gateway Center traffic light to be installed by Frank J. McMahon The new traffic light at the intersection of Ramapo Valley Road and Franklin Turnpike in Mahwah will soon be installed according to professional engineer Michael Kelly of Boswell McClave, the township’s engineering firm. “The traffic light is expected to be completed this summer,” Kelly said. Brian Campion, the township’s business administrator, concurred that a contract has been awarded for the project and a pre-construction meeting was expected to be held before the end of July. The strip mall on the site is known as the Gateway Center and the site is the location of the former Short Line Bus System. The new building on the triangular shaped property currently contains a bank, an Italian restaurant, a dry cleaner, and a Seven Eleven store. It is located adjacent to the Suffern, New York border and is in the B-12 general business zone in which banks, retail stores, and office space are permitted uses. The northern access to the site has be closed and barricaded since the shopping center opened because the traffic light must be changed at that location to control the existing vehicular traffic on Franklin Turnpike and the traffic coming from Franklin Turnpike and Ramapo Valley Road (Route 202), and the additional traffic entering and exiting the new shopping center. When the plan for the site was approved in May 2007, the planning board expressed concern about the potential impact on the vehicular traffic at the traffic light at that intersection, which already experiences backups during peak traffic hours. According to the site plan, vehicle detectors will be installed at the northern access driveway to activate the traffic signal when vehicles are ready to exit the shopping center. That dual driveway caused Captain Robert Sinnaeve, who is the township’s traffic safety officer, to question whether a green arrow on the traffic signal at that intersection, or the proposed vehicle detectors, would help during the times the traffic at that intersection is at its maximum. He said he believed there would be a loss of service at that intersection when that northern driveway access is opened, but he was in favor of improving the site. The board’s approval was subsequently made subject to an agreement between the township police, the township engineer, and the Bergen County planners on how the traffic at the intersection with the traffic signal would be controlled. Concern about controlling traffic at that intersection when the traffic light is installed and the northern driveway access to the site is open was again expressed at a recent council meeting. Councilman John Spiech said traffic at that location might back up if the traffic light were out of sync with the flow of traffic in that area. Kelly responded that both the county and the township would have to monitor the traffic at this light once it is operational to make sure that does not happen. The former Short Line Bus System building was partially demolished, an addition was constructed onto it, the entire building was renovated, and the new owner installed the streetscape that was planned by the township for Franklin Turnpike with period lighting and a paver sidewalk design. Street furniture is also proposed for the site and a street sign will be placed north of the dual driveway to this site indicating that motorists are entering Mahwah. Chamber offers business counseling The Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Bergen Chapter of SCORE, counselors to America’s small business, have teamed up to offer one-on-one business counseling services for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small business owners. Chamber members will receive free, real-world advice from more than 40 experienced, successful volunteer business coaches to help launch and grow their businesses. Confidential 60- to 90-minute counseling sessions will be held at the Mahwah Chamber’s office at 65 Ramapo Valley Road, Suite 211, in Mahwah on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon, beginning Aug. 6. The first session will include an initial assessment of the business owner’s needs. Members may book an appointment with a SCORE counselor by calling the Chamber office at (201) 5295566. �������������� You don’t have to do any homework to know where to advertise your back to school specials... 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