Politics & Government

White Castle to Conduct Traffic Study Prior to Planning Board Decision

Board says cross access to Sunrise Plaza will be a 'major key' to the project; White Castle will return for the June meeting

The until June after the engineer agreed to do a traffic study of the intersection of Route 9 and Sunrise Boulevard, the proposed location of the restaurant, during Memorial Day Weekend.

With its only entrance and exit on Sunrise Boulevard, the applicant is proposing to make road improvements. An application has been submitted to the state Department of Transportation to widen Sunrise Boulevard on the White Castle frontage to increase access to the right turn lane. The middle lane would be converted to a dual through lane and a left turn lane. The application also seeks to change the timing of the traffic signal.

“If people look at the changes to that intersection that we’re going to construct, it’s going to make it better for everybody and it’s a win-win,” the applicant’s attorney Louis D’Arminio said.

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The traffic impact analysis was done during the winter of 2009, when White Castle originally came to the Planning Board. The study takes into account the restaurant’s busiest hours and peak season periods, including a potential 20 percent traffic increase during the summer, the applicant’s engineer Elizabeth Dollan said.

“We used the most conservative approach,” D’Arminio said. “There’s no measurable change.”

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The impact analysis doesn’t show any great change in the operation of the intersection but the study did show there are problems at the intersection, Dollan said. Hence the adjustments the applicant is proposing.

The applicant does not believe that the construction of a fast food restaurant at that intersection would significantly impact traffic. The traffic going to White Castle is traffic already on the roadway, Dollan said.

“The gridlock is already a function of seasonal variation and the activity,” she said. “The White Castle traffic is a very small amount added to the overall intersection.”

Dollan has predicted an additional 60 inbound vehicles and 60 outbound vehicles during peak hours, she said.

“I have all the patience in the world but prefacing your application with a study done in 2009 is a major concern for me and I know that the folks sitting in the audience are here because of the traffic,” Committeeman and board member Gary Quinn said.

There was a full house of residents primarily from the Sunrise Beach area for the White Castle public hearing concerned about the traffic at the intersection.

Linda Consoli of Sunrise Boulevard said that traffic is greater as the school buses run with a stop off of Oak Avenue.

“White Castle isn’t bringing 100 percent of the traffic but White Castle is dumping 100 percent of its traffic onto Sunrise Boulevard,” she said.

Quinn argued that the study should have been done last summer to get realistic figures.

“When you get to Route 9 it’s not moving,” Quinn said. “It might not be your fault but it’s the responsibility of this board to not make the situation worse…. These numbers just don’t coincide with the reality that’s out there.”

Widening the road would double the left lane capacity, Dollan said. “You’re physically able to store more cars.”

Board member Dan Cortese believed the proposed changes to the intersection would cause more cars to stack up to turn left. If Route 9 is already backed up, those cars on Sunrise still won’t be able to turn, he said.

"The end result of this is that the White Castle is going to improve conditions substantially," D’Arminio said. The crowd then followed sarcastically, "Just like Home Depot.”

Vehicles would be processed more quickly in two lanes rather than the one left turn lane, Dollan said. The proposed plan shows a 20 percent increase in efficiency.

Since the applicant is unable to get approval from the DOT for an entrance and exit onto Route 9, Quinn along with several residents brought up the possibility of cross access with Sunrise Plaza, which is located north of the site. The plaza has an entrance and exit onto Route 9.

“It’s not something we’ll completely mark off right now,” said Thomas Bray, White Castle’s Director of Restaurant Operations for New Jersey.

The attorney from Sunrise Plaza, LLC asked if White Castle would see cross access as beneficial. Dollan said it depends on the design.

Having cross access to Sunrise Plaza would not work with White Castle’s one-way circulation plan but the applicant intends on revisiting the option, Bray said.

Cross access to Sunrise Plaza is not currently included in the plan although the applicant did note that there is a potential for an entrance in the future, Jacobs said.

During Jacobs’ analysis of the site plan, he found that a cross access between the two sites could work.

Cross access is a “major key” to this project, Quinn said.

“We recognize the fact that the lot is undersized. We recognize the fact that you’ve tried to make adjustments to make it work but at the same time you’re putting up this brick wall when we’re asking you to put up a cross access agreement and you’re very firm on the position that you don’t want that,” he said.

Marilyn Trayner of Sunrise Boulevard questioned why the applicant would choose such a restricted site, located not far from Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s. “I’ve got enough $1 sandwiches around here,” she said.

The site plan includes 1.71 acres and is currently developed as an abandoned one-story building. The application was and needs four variances — lot width, minimum side yard setback from Sunrise, two freestanding signs and freestanding clearance sign.

White Castle, if approved, will be open 24 hours. The plan proposes 24 parking spaces in addition to the drive through, which is expected to accommodate 50 to 60 percent of the customers. The site has crosswalks and the building will have the typical white stone with the blue and white awnings.

“You’re trying to enhance the entrance coming into Lacey Township (by modifying the township Master Plan),” Margaret Medland of Anchor Drive said. “ I don’t think this is going to enhance the entrance into Sunrise Boulevard.”

The applicant agreed to return on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend to do a traffic study between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The site will also be staked out.

White Castle will return for the next Planning Board meeting on Monday, June 11 at 7 p.m.


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