Plan to eliminate Marlton Circle challenged

Commuters endure it on the way to their Philadelphia offices. Daytrippers suffer through it on the way to the Shore.

In all, about 90,000 people each day navigate the Marlton Circle, considered one of the most dangerous intersections in South Jersey.

General opinion in the area has long held that the circle, linking Routes 70 and 73, must be obliterated.

"The Marlton Circle needed to go more than two decades ago," Evesham Township Mayor Randy Brown said.

But finding a popular solution has not been easy.

Fifteen years after state transportation officials began studying ways to fix the problem, they are moving forward with a plan to build an overpass lifting Route 73 over Route 70. Local officials, however, are not satisfied with the state's proposal.

Though Brown considers the overpass "the best solution for not only Evesham Township but the Delaware Valley," he said yesterday that the state should extend the planned overpass so the town's two main roads for local business can be connected underneath.

"Once the overpass goes up, the opportunity goes away," said Brown, who appeared at a news conference with Councilman Chris Brown, the connector's major proponent.

Chris Brown supports a partnership of federal, state, county and local government to fund the connecting road as an investment in long-term local growth.

After the news conference, Randy Brown received a letter from the DOT stating it cannot change its design to include the connecting road. The letter cited a one-year construction delay and an added cost of $15 million - conclusions Brown said he would contest.

The state plans to spend $57 million on the overpass, with $41.8 million coming from the federal government. Requests for bids on the project will go out in October, with construction expected to begin next year and a projected completion date of 2011, DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon said.

The circle was the site of the most frequent and severe accidents of any state highway location from Burlington County south, from 2003 to 2005, she said. In 2006, there were 163 accidents in the circle. The DOT projects the overpass would eliminate 71 percent of the crashes there.

New Jersey is home to 24 traffic circles on state roads, and the DOT plans to replace them as resources become available.

During the Marlton project's lengthy planning stage, some residents have voiced fierce criticism about the overpass, variously objecting to its cost, appearance, effectiveness and claims of safety benefits.

The routing changes required by the overpass plan would limit access to Main Street, prompting the fears of council members and some business owners that traffic to local businesses would slow.

Though no figures are available, the circle undoubtedly saw many fewer cars when it was constructed in 1932. By 1988, daily traffic in the vicinity of the circle was tallied at 74,000 vehicles, Phalon said.

Transportation officials began investigating ways to replace the circle in 1993 and selected the overpass design in 2003.

Deputy Mayor Mike Schmidt fears the overpass could threaten Evesham's atmosphere.

"It's a very large town," Schmidt said, "but for people who have lived here a long time, it still has a small town feel. I think the feeling I get from residents is if we [build the overpass], anything we had of a small-town feel we're going to lose entirely."

More than 2,000 people signed a petition opposing the project, according to Lynn O'Connor, founder of an anti-overpass Web site.

"People want simplicity as well as speed and safety," O'Connor said in an e-mail. "We will not get any of those with [the DOT] overpass in comparison to a well-designed at-grade intersection."

The DOT found an at-grade intersection would be unable to accommodate traffic levels at the circle, Phalon said.

At the circle, John Stavros is looking to sell Olga's Diner, which he has owned for 59 years. A strong opponent of the overpass, he said the impending construction has reduced demand for his property.

"Nobody wants to touch this unless they know what they're doing with the roads," he said.

The diner's windows proclaim the anxiety of its owner, who has scrutinized any news of the overpass.

"$50 mill??" asks one window. "91,000 cars a day?" adds the other, both dwarfed by the looming red script spelling the restaurant's name above.

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