Monroe Officials to Meet With State Transportation Commissioner to Advance Truck Ban Ordinance on Three Residential Roads
Proposed Truck Ban Has Municipal and County Support;
Needs the Commissioner’s Sign-Off
MONROE TOWNSHIP – May 12, 2020 –Monroe Mayor Gerald W. Tamburro will be scheduling a meeting with state Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, seeking her approval on a popular ordinance that bans heavy tractor-trailers on three residential roads along the Cranbury town line in Monroe.
Middlesex County recommended the ordinance to the state in February. The proposed law, which has received overwhelming support in Monroe, would ban trucks weighing more than eight tons from Cranbury Station, Prospect Plains and Cranbury Half Acre roads, west of Applegarth Road. The Township Council unanimously approved the ordinance in October, with more than 300 residents attending the meeting to voice support.
On April 21, a supervisor in the state Transportation Department’s traffic engineering bureau responded to the county engineer, saying he is against recommending the ban. The state official contended the safety issues did not rise to the level of weigh restrictions. He also believed that closing the roads to heavy trucks would add travel time and inconvenience to truckers who would have to deal with detours.
“This state official, with all due respect, failed to recognize that a steady stream of truck traffic heading to and from Cranbury all day long is a detriment to the safety and quality of life of the residents who live along these streets,” Mayor Tamburro said. “That is why we are meeting with Commissioner Gutierrez-Scaccetti and requesting her to act. This is a delicate issue involving senior citizens, school children and residents who live with a daily barrage of truck traffic. This is also a site of a future school. It cannot be fully understood by just reading studies in Trenton and then rendering recommendations.”
Mayor Tamburro said it is important to note that weight restrictions are enacted on sections of these same county roads in Cranbury, recognizing concerns with truck traffic. Monroe is simply seeking the same protections for its residents.
“We are eager to get these tractor trailers off our residential streets, once and for all,” Mayor Tamburro added. “This is all about improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Our residents deserve quiet, safe streets in front of their homes. That is the sole driving force behind this ban.”
The mayor also intends to ask Commissioner Gutierrez-Scaccetti about the proposed two-mile “Liberty Way Bypass,” a road on Cranbury’s master plan that would have diverted tractor trailers directly to Interchange 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike.
Because this traffic solution was never completed, Cranbury-based truck traffic now steadily traverses Monroe’s residential neighborhoods each day to the ongoing concern of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
At the request of the former Cranbury Mayor Susan Goetz in March 2015, the Monroe Planning Board adopted a resolution in support of the proposed bypass, which was to include a bridge over the Cranbury Brook.
At that time, Monroe officials expressed appreciation to Cranbury, saying the bypass sends a “positive message” to neighboring communities about the growing traffic problems from the Cranbury warehouses. South Brunswick approved a similar resolution on July 22, 2014, saying the bypass would remove 14,000 vehicles from Route 130, providing “much relief.” At that time, the chair of the Cranbury Planning Board called the two-mile Liberty Way a “no brainer.”
That plan was also enthusiastically promoted by the former Cranbury Mayor Goetz, and appeared to be funded in cooperation with Cranbury-based developers. But it was never built.
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All media inquiries may be directed to the Monroe Township’s Public Information Officer Stacey Kennedy at 732-521-4400 or