The question comes up about who is responsible for South Ave, The State or County. No one seems to know and the City has maintained that street for about 5 decades.
It is State Highway 28 and not a County highway thus it should be the State's problem. No one seems to be able to retrieve the records relating to the transfer of the road to the City.
Rt 28 runs west from the Fanwood border at Terrill Rd to Plainfield Ave. then north to Front St. and again west to the Dunellen line. I believe that the State may still maintain the Front Street portion. Up to the post WWII period Rt28 was the State's owned structure.
Some time early 50s or late 40s due to traffic jams on the east-west roads south of the railroad tracks and blocking north/south traffic on the streets through the commercial area, it was decided by the city to turn West 4th and 5th Streets into opposite one way streets from Watchung Ave to Plainfield Ave..
There was a problem 5th street belonged to the State, 4th Street was not part of the State system. The City could not change the traffic flow on 5th street without State permission. To gain that permission a deal was made that the City would be responsible for the South Ave-5th Street in exchange for the right to make West 5th one way. and shift the other direction to 4th.St. there was no time limit before it would revert back to the State.
Note: Even then the Republican City Administration knew how to SNAFU everything. They made 4th Street eastbound and 5th the Westbound roads creating left turns at Watchung and 5 th and 4th strets., also at Plainfield and 5th. It took a year of traffic jams and merchants complaints before the present configuration. At that time the present route from Roosevelt to Watchung did not exist. There were a large Gas Tank there and the "Academy" roller rink and site of boxing matches stood where the Police Station is now. The Street along the back was East 4th and as narrow as it is today.
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Back in 1998 Al McWilliams wanted us to research having the state take over Rte 28 maintenance responsibilities in Plainfield as it does in other municipalities it runs through. If I recall the City Attorney had the document that indicated responsibilities -- it may be in the current City Attorneys archives. It could also be in the Economic Development or Planning files under the South Ave. Streetscape project. It's been quite a while so I don't remember the details but I had the impression that in that time frame Plainfield wanted to maintain control over Rte 28 - thinking they could do a better job than the state. I believe that we did submit a request to the state to turn the roadway over to them the same way we executed an agreement with NJ Transit to have them maintain the railroad stations. Nothing ever happened with the DOT; but NJT took over the stations. Sorry I can't remember why the DOT request went nowhere but the paperwork should be in City Hall.
ReplyDeleteWhoever is responsible for South Ave. they need to remove the dangerous ourcroppings that someone thought would make the area classy. It did not, but tends to back up traffic and make driving dangerous. I travel that road several times a week and have never seen a pedistrian use those stupid things. Someone please help and give us some sanity. Lord knows we've had little of it over the past five years.
ReplyDeleteScrew the academic discussion, fix the road!
ReplyDeleteI worked at the Plainfield Fire Department from 1970 to 1982 and throughout that period Fourth Street was eastbound. It was changed to westbound sometime after 1982, although I am not sure when.
ReplyDelete"Old Doc", great information on the history of the issue. South Avenue is critical to the future development of Plainfield. There are many vital businesses that occupy the South Ave Business District as you know. This is another example of the city assuming a financial responsibility that will have long-term implications on taxpayers for years to come. Transparency is the key to make sure these kinds of decisions are properly vetted. Great job on the story.
ReplyDelete