Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Street Closure Collin Drive topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press South River to close Collin Drive after years of wrong‑way traffic
Summary
Neighbors urged the borough to permanently close Collin Drive to through traffic, citing repeated wrong‑way driving, speeding and safety hazards; the council held a public hearing but the transcript does not record a final closure vote.
Residents of Collin Drive and surrounding streets urged South River officials during a public hearing on Feb. 3 to close Collin Drive to through traffic, saying wrong‑way drivers, speeding and noise have made the street unsafe.
Several neighbors said the road has been a longstanding problem since the adjacent development was built. “It needs to be closed off,” Stella Fitzpatrick (44 Common Drive) told the council during public comment. “We have cars coming both ways. We have children playing out there.”
Nadia Nalunsek (42 Collin Drive) urged the council to act after two decades of complaints about the street. Nalunsek described earlier planning‑board and developer decisions that resulted in a one‑way configuration and said residents reluctantly accepted a one‑way street to avoid costly litigation. She and other neighbors reported drivers treat the street as a shortcut and travel at high speeds.
Scott Wenger (33 Terry Avenue) described long‑running neighborhood efforts to stop the roadway’s use as a cut‑through and said residents documented high volumes of wrong‑way traffic. “I put a camera in my house a couple of months back … there must be 30, 40 cars a day,” Wenger said, adding that officers once spent multiple hours monitoring the street.
Robert Smatrick (44 Collin Drive) said he has nearly been hit while crossing the street and worries an injury or death will be needed to prompt action. Multiple speakers credited past police enforcement efforts but said the problem persists.
The council allowed a five‑minute public hearing and then closed public comment; the transcript records the hearing and speakers’ remarks but does not record a council vote to close Collin Drive during this meeting. Council members acknowledged residents’ testimony and referred enforcement history and the planning record during discussion, but no final closure ordinance or adoption appears in the meeting record provided.
Council and staff noted the street’s long history and that decisions about physical closure, signage or new traffic controls involve engineering review, traffic studies and, if required, legal or planning steps. Those procedural next steps were discussed but not resolved on the record.
