December 12, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Crossroads engineer presents off-site traffic plan by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Planning Board heard testimony last week from a traffic engineer for Crossroads Developers, LLC, who presented a new off-site traffic and access plan for the Crossroads Town Center mall proposed for the 140-acre International Crossroads property on Route 17. The developer is planning to construct a 600,000 square foot retail center at that site that would surround the Sheraton Mahwah Hotel and include two big box stores with three smaller store buildings, a tenplex theater, 200,000 square feet of retail shops along a pedestrian corridor, and an athletic field. Traffic Engineer Dan Disario said he hoped to obtain an endorsement of the new plan from the planning board so it could be presented to the New Jersey Department of Transportation, which has the ultimate jurisdiction to approve the plan. The board, however, suggested several changes. Disario said the new traffic access plan was prepared in response to concerns expressed by the board and the public about the developer’s previous plan for traffic access to the site from Leisure Lane. The updated plan, he said, also addresses the concern about the ability of Stag Hill Road residents to travel to and from their community where there are about 175 residences and several businesses. Disario told the board the new plan includes the elimination of the mall access at Leisure Lane with the main entrance to the mall to be at the Crossroads North entrance which is farther north on Route 17 past the Mountainside Road overpass. It also contains a new cloverleaf ramp for traffic exiting the mall at the intersection of Mountainside and Cross roads to reach Route 17 South without using the Stag Hill Road intersection. He said the Leisure Lane access to the mall would be maintained as an emergency access only and it would be closed to normal traffic by way of a gate. According to the new plan, any traffic exiting Route 17 North at Leisure Lane would make a left onto Cross Road and continue north to a new traffic signal at the Mountainside Road intersection where the traffic would either continue straight north onto Orient Boulevard to an entrance to the mall farther to the north, or turn left to proceed over the Mountainside Road/ Route 17 overpass to the new ramp to Route 17 South or the Stag Hill Road intersection. Asked if the road improvements that were previously planned for the Leisure Lane access would still be included in the plan, Disario said he would include those improvements if the NJDOT said it would be a good idea to do so. Disario explained that the new cloverleaf ramp on the south side of Route 17 has been found to be a feasible design that would meet all the physical design criteria of the NJDOT and would address the concerns of the Stag Hill Road residents. He estimated the cost of the ramp at about $400,000, but explained that the ramp would eliminate the need for a traffic signal at the intersection of Stag Hill Road and South Houvenkopf Road. The planning board’s traffic engineer, Judd Rocciola, suggested that all the underground infrastructure for that traffic signal be installed in case it is found to be needed in the future. During the board’s discussion of the new plan, Chairman Todd Sherer recommended to Disario that he revise (continued on page 19)