Kings Road Project to be Completed in 3 Weeks, Engineer Says

Chatham Borough Engineer Vincent J. DeNave was optimistic Monday at a meeting with Kings Road residents to discuss the upcoming roadway safety improvements.

"We're introducing a lot of traffic-calming measures to the road," DeNave said. "I think immediately after the project is completed we're going to be able to see a difference."

The project, DeNave said, should begin right after the Labor Day weekend and he anticipates it being complete in one week, a duration shocking to residents in its brevity.

Kings Road has been a problem motorway for years in Chatham Borough. It runs parallel to Main Street with a lower speed limit than the main thoroughfare (25-miles-an-hour on Kings Road compared to 35-miles-an-hour on Main Street) but with no marked lanes, no traffic lights and lighter traffic, it is commonly used as an alternative, much to the chagrin of the residents.

"Coming out of Madison where the speed limit is 30- or 35-miles-an-hour, no one slows down," DeNave said. "We've put a flashing sign for the speed limit. We've used radar and police presence to moderate behavior. None of it has worked."

Now the entire road will be revamped. A sidewalk along the north side of the road, where the Chatham Mall is located at Lafayette Avenue between Main Street and Kings Road, will be installed. 

Seven trees will have to be cut to make room for the sidewalk, but DeNave said the borough was willing to replant the trees if residents truly did not want them touched. No resident immediately took him up on the offer.

Two islands will be installed in the middle of the roadway, creating what DeNave called "a physical barrier" which will induce motorists to slow down. They will be set back from the intersections of Kings Road with Division Avenue and Lafayette Avenue, and "will let people know that the roadway isn't that wide," he said.

An approximate location for the islands was painted on Monday morning along Kings Road.

Along the side of the road will be a brick print similar to what is used in the crosswalks along Main Street, These will help mark paths for bicycles, pedestrians and parked cars. "It's not really a crosswalk, but it should slow folks down," DeNave said.

A yellow line made of a gravelly substance called SAFE-T Grip will go down the center of Kings Road. If a driver should stray onto it, "you'll be able to feel it and hear it on your tires," DeNave said.

Lastly, two vehicle-activated traffic signs will be installed at either end of the road. The signs will have two modes, active and stealth. When in stealth mode, the signs will be able to record the speed of vehicles without lighting up to warn of speeding. When in active mode the sign will flash the speed of the oncoming car and warning lights until the car slows down.

"We can set this to go off at two or three miles past the limit," or more, DeNave said. "We're still deciding."

Similar lights are installed along Green Village Road in Madison between Shunpike Road and Main Street, near St. Vincent Martyr Church and School.

Nadine Scarpa of Kings Road asked if the speed limit on Kings Road would be increased after the sidewalk was installed.

"Once all these things are in, we could comfortably raise the speed limit," DeNave said. "It's not our intention to. The speed limit in the borough for residential streets is 25-miles-an-hour, and Kings Road is still a residential street."

Several other residents asked if the project included any visibility improvements at the intersections with Division and Lafayette Avenues. They shared stories of near-accidents, of waiting for left turns and of traffic stretching along, especially during the school year and at rush hour.

At Division Avenue, DeNave said there may be some hope in store. "We'll doing Division Avenue this spring with Madison," he said. "We could look at some visibility improvements." 

He also said it might be possible to pave a single yellow line down Division Avenue to mark the lanes. 

As far as lowering the speed limit along Kings Road in Madison, DeNave said if the project yields the kinds of results he expects with regards to safety and speeding, "I'll call the Madison engineer and gloat a bit," maybe enough to induce Madison to take on a similar project.

The entire traffic and pedestrian safety improvement project along Kings Road will cost about $329,000. State grants for the project have lowered that cost to about $14,000 for borough taxpayers.

DeNave collected email addresses of those present at the meeting and said any residents who wanted daily updates on the project could contact him at vdenave@chathamborough.org.