Glouco bypass promises relief, but not for all

Demolition sites, pocked with mud puddles and dotted by idled equipment, are scattered along the busy Route 322 corridor in South Jersey.

They are the evidence that the Mullica Hill bypass, long a dotted line on planning maps, could soon offer drivers relief.

Last month, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection approved the project after learning from a consultant that bog turtles and other protected species no longer live in forested wetlands that will be paved over.

The project, which has drawn opposition from some environmentalists and others, still must be reviewed by a state historical agency.

"This is our biggest road project," said Vincent Voltaggio, the engineer overseeing the project for Gloucester County. Construction could start as soon as the spring; later, the state Department of Transportation would reimburse the county $16 million for the bypass and other road improvements, Voltaggio said.

The bypass is designed to ease traffic at a spot that has frustrated both local residents and Shore-bound travelers who cross the Commodore Barry Bridge.

So far, 13 homes and one store have been razed to make way for the 1.5-mile bypass and $10 million in related road improvements on Route 322 in Harrison Township.

An average of nearly 29,000 vehicles a day use the corridor, and cars sometimes back up nearly two miles from the Route 322-Route 45 intersection closest to the Commodore Barry, according to traffic studies. At peak times, roughly 1,300 vehicles pass through the bottleneck in an hour, Voltaggio said. The bypass would begin at that intersection, next to the landmark Harrison House Diner, and slice through rolling fields, farmland, wetlands, a deep gorge, and a small residential area next to Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church. It would end at Clems Run about three miles west of Route 55, which leads to the Shore.

Freeholder Director Stephen Sweeney, who is also the state Senate majority leader, has bragged that he pushed the project through after various government agencies failed to get the job done. The state Department of Transportation, the Delaware Regional Planning Authority, and others did studies on Mullica Hill's traffic glut in the last two decades.

But some residents, environmental activists, and historic preservationists see problems with the bypass. They say it would ruin the town, which is known for its antiques shops and Victorian homes, and destroy a valuable habitat.

"There's a lot of political clout pushing for this road project, and it's a bad project," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. He said county officials had shown little regard for endangered species and for wetlands, property needed to control flooding and protect water sources, at that location.

"It's an environmentally sensitive and very pretty area," Tittel said of the forested wetland along Raccoon Creek.

The DEP's database has reports of bog turtles, a federally endangered species, and some endangered plants in those wetlands. But Scott Brubaker, DEP assistant commissioner of land use, said that the county had reported its consultant could find none of these species, and that a biologist had confirmed this at the site.

Tittel scoffed, saying the DEP "has not done a very good job of protecting endangered species" because it allows construction without adequately verifying consultants' reports.

Bypasses also bring sprawl and more congestion, Tittel said. More homes and businesses often spring up along a bypass, creating new problems, he said.

Joe Naples, chairman of the Harrison Township Historic Preservation Commission, worries that the bypass could also diminish the historic district, which is on state and national registries. The county plans to acquire parts of the properties around two homes in the district. "This could affect our stature as a historic district," Naples said. "I don't want to see them take one inch of the land, because we're a small district."

The state Historic Sites Council in Trenton must review the plans before the project can proceed. It will hold a hearing next month to determine what impact the bypass would have on the historic sites.

Brock LeBonne, a retired Philadelphia school administrator, said the bypass would force him to sell his 198-year-old farmhouse. "The house inside is absolutely beautiful, and I don't want to leave it," LeBonne said. The county wants to buy roughly one acre of his 1.7-acre property, taking pieces from his backyard and side yard.

Instead of seeing towering buttonwood trees and rolling fields from his wraparound porch, he said, he'd be confronted by tractor trailers whizzing by about 50 feet from his doorstep. "I understand this is progress," LeBonne said, but he is not too sure the sacrifice is necessary because, he said, the plan is flawed.

Naples agreed, saying alternative plans were presented at town meetings when the county introduced its proposal two years ago.

Elliott Heisman, whose home was demolished a few months ago, wonders if the bypass would be able to handle all the traffic in the future since it would be only two lanes.

"If you're going to take these houses out, then do it right, and do it now," he said, suggesting the bypass should be four lanes. "Look at what happened with the Blue Route," a congested Pennsylvania highway built outside Philadelphia after much controversy.

Fred Richman, who lives near the bypass site, complained that the county cared only about people passing through the town, and not residents. Several merchants, however, favor the bypass and said it would help reduce congestion. "I think it will be great for business," said Tracy Dodge, an owner of the Yellow Garage Antiques Marketplace. "On weekends you can't even get to my shop."

Dodge also said the bypass should reduce truck traffic that's "disintegrating the buildings" when it rumbles through the historic downtown.

Annette Wright, owner of Mullica Hill Quilt Co., shared the sentiment.

"I think it's a good thing," she said. "It's something that's necessary."