Bill would give towns power to place traffic signs BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer A New Jersey assemblyman is crafting legislation that would relieve local municipalities from needing state approval to place street signs. According to Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19th District), the author of the bill, the purpose of the legislation is to streamline traffic management and increase efficiency, because the current model is too cumbersome. Wisniewski said the law, as it is now, can lead to confusion and delays due to a large backlog of applications waiting to be decided on by the state Department of Transportation (DOT). This, he noted, can be "inconvenient," with some applications taking more than half a year to gain approval. Wisniewski said this waiting period is not necessary, because the application process itself, in this case, is largely redundant. Wisniewski said that under the current law, when a municipality wants to put up a stop sign, it needs to submit an application to the state with certification that the application meets uniform engineering guidelines. But, he said, if the application already meets engineering guidelines and is certified as such, why should the state need to confirm that which is already confirmed? "It's a duplicative layer of bureaucracy that's not needed. There's six people in DOT who do nothing but this, which is a waste of resources," said Wisniewski. Erin Phalon, a spokesperson with the DOT, said that as of April 21, the department has 1,350 pending requests for regulations and signals. She also said it takes about six months for a review to be completed, but that each application is unique, with some gaining approval within days and others requiring more data to be collected before being able to move on in the process. Further, Wisniewski said the towns themselves are the best judges as to what traffic regulations are needed and where, not the DOT. "The commissioner of transportation is a nice fellow, but between a choice of [a] mayor knowing better or [Commissioner] Kris Kollury, I think the mayor has a better idea of where, in his town, things should be put," said Wisniewski. The bill would not give municipalities power to place traffic signals, nor would it give them control over regulations on state or county roads that happen to pass through their municipality. The extent of a municipality's regulatory power will be signs, speed limits, speed bumps and striping. He also said the funding structure for signs does not change, meaning that local municipalities would still pay for their own local regulations. Hope Township Mayor Tom McDonough, vice president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, was very much in favor of the idea, saying that his own township has been waiting for the state to post speed limit signs. According to McDonough, the state wants data as to why the signs are needed, which he said could cost thousands of dollars. He said people who live in the town already know they are necessary without having to prove it to the state. "We know they're necessary.We're in our towns every day. We're not going to ask for something not necessary, so this legislation allowing municipalities to do this without adding a very heavy, expensive level of bureaucracy, makes a lot of sense," said McDonough. Metuchen Mayor Thomas Vahalla was a little more reserved. Since he had not read the legislation, he did not want to comment directly on it, though he said he felt that some sort of regulation would still be necessary. "If it helps speed the process, that's one thing, but on the other hand, you don't want stop signs on every corner, so you have to have some regulations, at least on how you would do that," said Vahalla. As an example, he said that Metuchen had needed to change the location of some stop signs in the past because they were considered on a through street, which made traffic difficult. Meanwhile, according toWoodbridge Township spokesperson John Hagerty, currently there is no backlog of traffic regulation applications from that town involving the Department of Transportation. "The few that we have asked for have all been put up and were done so fairly quickly," said Hagerty. The bill is still being drafted. Wisniewski said he plans to introduce it to the Assembly once the Legislature reconvenes in May.