Neighbors say traffic is too much

DINGMAN - The Dingman Town Planning Commission is weighing the impacts that a proposed access road for a new sub-division will have on local residents. The residents on Buist Road in north east Dingman Township are concerned with the planned location of the access road into The Estates at Eagle Ridge, a 39 home sub-division. They say there are possible alternatives to the planned entrance. The sub-division is still in the planning stages as a conditional zoning use permit has not been approved by Dingman Township, said Susan Sabatelli, a resident living on Buist Rd. Buist Road begins on Route 6 just south of Interstate 84 and travels in about one mile west, then dead ends. There are only six homes on this short section of roadway and the planned entrance to Eagle Ridge will direct new sub-division homeowners traffic as well as any service vehicles in front of existing Buist Road homes. Neighbors say this would be an increase that the narrow road was never meant for. The neighbors have presented planners with a letter of concern, citing many safety and environmental issues, signed by all the home and lot owners that will be affected. One of the neighbors, Vito DiBiasi, earlier warned the township supervisors that there would be legal action if the plan goes ahead. “The original planned access road into Eagle Ridge was in a location that would be more sensible, less costly, and be safer”, said DiBiasi. Neighbors say that the access road could have been at one of three possible locations closer to the Professional Plaza and the intersection of Buist Road. and Route 6. At the planning commission’s direction, the developers of Eagle Ridge have had an engineering consultant do a traffic study of the area. Mike Weeks, the township engineer, reviewed the Traffic Impact Study. While the bulk of the new traffic would be going into the Milford Plaza, Weeks said the consultants need to go back and take counts at the proposed sub-division entrance to give a more accurate traffic count. He indicated that the study failed to address critical elements such as shoulder widths and passing distances, which are required by the town. Weeks noted, “This is part of road geometry which is only touched on briefly in the report and did not adequately address the conditions that are actually present on Buist Road.” Planning Commission Chairman Walter Myer said that he would like to see the study show an overall plan of the road reflecting the physical dimensions over its entire length. The developer is required to upgrade the road if the existing road to the sub-division is inadequate. But DiBiasi said that a small section of Buist Rd. is only 15’6” wide and cannot be widened without negative environmental impact because there is a solid rock wall on one side and a pond, related to Milford’s water supply opposite it. Planning Commission member Mike Ciancitto said that the Planning Commission is not at the point of determining if the road requirements need to be met. Planners will seek a new traffic study before any decision is made.