Glassboro residents ‘on edge’ over Route 322 plans that would filter traffic away from Rowan, into their neighborhoods

A proposal to siphon Route 322 traffic away from Rowan University’s main campus and into downtown Glassboro via a new bypass near a residential area has hit a big roadblock.

Many of the 150 people attending an open house Wednesday in the Glassboro High School gymnasium were angry about the project as well as the event’s format. It offered aerial maps and individual conversations with project engineers — but no presentation to the entire audience or questions from the floor.

“We were supposed to get answers,” said Alan Norton, 58, a resident of the Chestnut Ridge neighborhood, as he and others demanded to hear from Mayor John E. Wallace III.

“They’re upset. I get it,” Wallace, who did not have a microphone, told reporters. He said the public has been “misinformed” and had “misconceptions” about the project. He also said additional meetings and more information will be forthcoming.

Local residents “are already on edge,” the mayor said. “The borough’s changing, the university’s exploding, and there’s a more seasoned population in Chestnut Ridge, people who have been there for generations. It’s change, and nobody likes change.”

Glassboro resident Lynda Gallashaw, who addressed a group of listeners in the bleachers, said: “What needs to happen next is we sign a petition that opposes this project. It should not happen.”

Others said the proposal was confusing, had taken them by surprise, and seemed all about helping Rowan and the downtown business district, rather than residential neighborhoods.

Gloucester County is pursuing the $25 million project to alleviate long-standing traffic congestion, heavy truck traffic, and public safety issues along the portion of Route 322 that runs through Glassboro and bisects the Rowan campus.

The two-lane road carries more than 14,000 vehicles daily, and pedestrian crossings can be as high as 1,000 an hour. Fifteen collisions between vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists occurred in a recent three-year period, and while none were fatal, some caused serious injuries.

The conceptual plan developed by the McCormick Taylor engineering firm in Mount Laurel would mostly utilize existing streets. It would create two separate bypass systems that together would carry east-west traffic across the borough, reduce downtown truck traffic, and provide more direct downtown access for noncommercial vehicles.

A pedestrian plaza also would be constructed across a closed-to-traffic section of 322 between Memorial Circle and Winans Drive, physically linking the two sides of the Rowan campus for the first time.

“Our veterinary school is under construction and our nursing school will break ground in the fall,” said Joe Cardona, a spokesperson for Rowan.

The portion of the Route 322 corridor closest to Route 55 also includes the new Inspira Health complex as well as new and planned facilities for Rowan’s west campus development, he said.

Construction of the first phase of the project is not expected to begin for at least a year, Gloucester County administrator Chad Bruner said in an earlier interview Wednesday. He did not attend the meeting.

“The goal is to lessen congestion on Route 322 and 47 and take people where they want to go downtown, and on campus,” Bruner said. “This has been worked on for several years. It’s a big project and it will be very beneficial to downtown, the community, and Rowan as well.”

According to McCormick Taylor engineers, the first phase would direct trucks exiting from Routes 55 or 47 to a bypass that will primarily utilize Ellis, Sewell, and Grove Streets to carry eastbound and westbound traffic on a route south of the campus and downtown.

The second phase would direct downtown-bound traffic from 322 onto a new, two-lane road paralleling Girard Road on the perimeter of Chestnut Ridge.

Built at the turn of the 20th century as rail service encouraged suburban development in traditionally rural Glassboro, the Chestnut Ridge neighborhood offers a variety of vintage and newer homes on streets named for famous universities. It’s also in easy walking distance of Rowan’s main campus, where enrollment has doubled from 11,000 to 23,000 in the last decade.

But several residents of “the Ridge’ who attended Wednesday’s event said quality of life in the neighborhood is declining as student rental properties proliferate.

“Where we live now is all landlords who rent to college students,” said Francine Shertel, 63, a retired Atlantic City casino cocktail server and lifelong Glassboro resident. “There are parties all the time and intoxicated students on the street.

“They say this bypass will protect the safety of the students, which is fine. But what about us?” she said.

“They want to take eight feet of our property for the bypass. We already don’t have much of a front yard. And I’m worried about my grandson trying to cross a big new street.”

The Chestnut Ridge Neighborhood Watch has created an online petition to stop the project. And the Chestnut Ridge Civic Association also has galvanized opposition.

“The proposal to solve a university traffic problem by constructing a Route 322 bypass through a residential neighborhood is unduly expensive, environmentally destructive, and wholly unacceptable,” said association secretary Mary Lee Donahue.

“Although Glassboro needs a good bypass, an appropriate route would not disrupt a well-maintained residential neighborhood,” she said.

Bruner, who grew up in Chestnut Ridge, said he empathizes with the neighborhood’s concerns.

“I would never want to see anything destroy the character of where I grew up.” he said.

“I want it to be better.”

Several people who attended the meeting said they did get answers to questions at the event, which Bruner said was designed to focus on listening and taking suggestions.

“A lot of changes can still be made,” he said.

Bruner also said the bypass — which will not be accessible to or from the neighborhood itself ―will likely take traffic that now uses Chestnut Ridge as a shortcut off neighborhood streets.

Chuck Williams, a retired utility worker and longtime Chestnut Ridge resident, said he attended the event because he loves his neighborhood,

“I still need a little more information” about the project, he said.

“Somebody’s gonna have to sell this one to me.”