Can't get around fight over road to the Shore

A highway bypass through the Gloucester County countryside might unsnarl traffic on a popular route to the Jersey Shore.

It might also disturb the dead.

The proposed 1.5-mile Mullica Hill bypass, designed to ease a notorious bottleneck on Route 322, would funnel heavy traffic past a century-old cemetery owned by the Holy Name of Jesus Church.

"I worry about what effect the vibrations, the pollution and the runoff water will have on the crypts," said Larry Wallace, a member of the Roman Catholic church's cemetery committee.

Concrete for the highway would be poured as close as 15 feet to a row of graves, he said. Nearly 1,000 people – including Wallace's 9-year-old son, who died from brain cancer - are buried in the one-acre cemetery, which backs up to a woods between the church and a row of townhouses.

Planners have proposed to depress the highway six feet below ground level and build a buffer along the cemetery, but highway opponents doubt that would help.

Building a highway that diverts traffic from small towns is a decades-old transportation strategy. Bypasses can ease clogged town traffic, studies show, but also can spur suburban sprawl and drain business from downtown retailers.

The proposed $12 million Mullica Hill bypass would begin where Route 322 crosses Route 45, on the edge of the historic antiques village in Harrison Township. The goal is to offer a speedier alternate route to jammed cars and trucks that travel between the Commodore Barry Bridge and Route 55, a southern route to the Shore from the Philadelphia region.

The Gloucester County freeholders and state Department of Transportation announced plans for the bypass in May. Construction could begin in 2009, officials said, with completion projected for 2011.

Proponents say it's easy to see why Mullica Hill needs a bypass. Eastbound Route 322 traffic routinely backs up nearly three-quarters of a mile at the intersection, where the landmark Harrison House diner sits. Even after the summer rush, at least 150 cars are often lined up at the intersection, Freeholder Director Stephen M. Sweeney said.

"The population is growing, and we're looking at a doubling of congestion in 10 years if we don't do something now," he said.

The bypass is only a sloping red line on a map right now. It would cut across the grassy area that the church had set aside for 200 future graves and a mausoleum, then traverse a forest and wetlands. From there, it would cross a stream, a vast farm where more than 100 homes were planned, and a residential area.

At least four houses and two other buildings would be bulldozed, officials say.

Steve Barlage, who would see the woods adjacent to his backyard chopped down and paved, said the project would ruin the quiet community without solving traffic problems.

In fact, he said, it would create a dangerous new intersection at the entrance to a 10-field soccer complex scheduled to open in the spring. The complex, on Walter Road, could attract hundreds of children, and the entrance is about 50 yards from the proposed path of the bypass.

Barlage has organized a grassroots opposition group with a Web site, www.322bypass.com. He and other opponents say improving existing intersections and roads is a better solution than building another highway.

The most controversial section of the bypass is the 300 feet along the cemetery.

Wallace said the church had been awaiting township approval of a plan to build a mausoleum and add 200 grave sites when officials told them of the plan to condemn the land and pave it.

"This bypass doesn't show respect for the history of this place or for the sanctity of this area," Wallace said. "People come here for solace."

Wallace said he treasured quiet moments at the graves of his son, his mother and his grandmother – all buried beside the proposed path of the highway. At least 30 war veterans also are buried in the cemetery.

Sweeney said the county was trying to be sensitive. He said the highway design has been changed to add a buffer.

"We are going to create a grotto-type situation in the cemetery, below ground, with a wall and sound barriers and a reflection area so that you won't even see the road or hear it," he said.

The highway would be sunk six feet below the surface. A berm, a wall, a fence and shrubbery would shield the cemetery, Sweeney said.

"There are other cemeteries with roads by them," he said. "We are trying to accommodate the cemetery people, but, knowing we'll never appease everyone, we are trying to be as fair as we can be."

Bypass opponents said they doubted the measures would help. "How can they call it a reflection area with the highway so close?" Wallace asked. "They're desecrating the entire cemetery."

Several hundred people packed public hearings on the project this summer, and many voiced concerns.

Harrison Township Mayor Michael Koestler said bypass naysayers didn't want the highway in their backyard.

"This road needs to go through," he said. "It's the right thing to do – and too bad if it comes too close to your house."