Mayor starts petition to change traffic flow near Parkway Exit 171 to alleviate traffic concerns

Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali says he believes it will help ease congestion as the borough grows and Exit 172 gets ready to close for road work.

Matt Trapani and Amanda Eustice

Oct 8, 2024, 9:41 PM

Updated 29 days ago

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An area off the Garden State Parkway in Bergen County is causing headaches for some drivers, prompting the creation of a petition to try to improve the flow of traffic.
Lauri Murray and her husband have lived on Clairmont Drive in Woodcliff Lake for more than 25 years.
Murray says that while loves her home, she does not like the inconvenience it takes for her to get there when getting off the Parkway at Exit 171.
"My house is right across the street from the exit, so I have to go up the block, find somewhere to make the U-turn, come back around,” she says.
The issue at the exit is when the light turns green, drivers can only turn left on Glen Road.
This is why Murray signed a new petition started by the mayor of Montvale who is hoping to instead have one lane go left and the other go right.
Mayor Mike Ghassali says he believes it will help ease congestion as the borough grows and Exit 172 gets ready to close for road work.
"We've noticed heavy traffic that is coming in off the parkway avoiding 171 but coming to us and making the turn to go back to Woodcliff Lake. Washington Township and the two towns over are having the same issues. They're taking Exit 168 and going around,” the mayor says.
But because the exit is in Woodcliff Lake and not Montvale, Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo says that Montvale does not have a say in what can be done.
"We have an agreement with the County of Bergen and the [New Jersey] Turnpike Authority that says the borough has to have unanimous consent in order to open that up and right now we are unanimous in terms of not opening it up,” Rendo says.
Not all residents in the county think that changing the flow will alleviate traffic.
"It's a bad situation. Making a right-hand turn is not going to solve it. The traffic is going to get worse and it's going to dominate the S turns and all the country roads,” says Kurt Cieszo, of Woodcliff Lake.
Ghassali says meetings are scheduled with Bergen County officials and the Turnpike Commission to address his concerns.