HOWELL – Monmouth County officials plan to perform a traffic study at the intersection at Route 547 and Randolph Road, where the waste transfer station has been proposed. The county hired independent engineer Boswell Engineering of South Hackensack to perform the study.
Boswell Engineering will be looking at the area to determine how traffic will be affected by the project and what the numbers are, according to Director of Community Development Jim Herrman. “They’re there to either refute or confirm the solid waste transfer station’s engineer,” he added.
The waste transfer site, originally proposed in 2015, has been vying for approval from Howell Township since July 2017. In January 2018, the Solid Waste Advisory Council held a special meeting at Howell’s town hall to discuss the proposal further. The meeting brought out scores of residents vehemently opposing the project.
According to the project’s engineer, InSite Engineering, the site would become a Recycling Transfer Station that will be the turnover site for sorting out and recycling solid waste in the form of construction and demolition debris. Residents fear this station will just be “a dump” in the township.
Also proposed in this area is the 41 Randolph, LLC proposal, which was recently approved by the Howell Township Planning Board.
Owner 41 Randolph, LLC proposes the construction of a flex space facility at 41 Randolph, which will consist of five tenant units 9,946 square feet to 29,687 square feet each, according to the planning board. Located at Block 38, Lot 4, the space will fit associated office areas, employee break rooms and loading areas on the site.
“[41 Randolph, LLC] is about a 100,000 square foot mixed-use warehouse facility,” said Herrman. The space will sit on about 105 acres of land, across from Arnold Steel, he added.
Herrman explained that, while he is uncertain of exactly when the traffic study will be conducted, the county held off until school was back in session to get more accurate results.
Councilman Robert Walsh, who has been adamantly opposed to the transfer site since its inception, advocated during the recent council meeting for more traffic studies to anticipate the major changes to traffic in the area should these two large facilities be built.
“I think this governing body should hire and have their own traffic study,” said Walsh.
