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Residents press council over safety after repeal of left‑turn restriction near Route 73
Summary
Residents urged Mount Laurel council to act on safety at Tam O'Shanter and South Brentwood after the body moved to repeal an ordinance limiting left turns; staff said a full engineering study will wait until the State DOT finalizes Route 73 plans next year.
Residents told Mount Laurel Township Council that repealing a recently adopted left‑turn restriction leaves their neighborhood exposed to cut‑through traffic and safety risks, and they asked for interim enforcement and temporary fixes while the township waits for state plans.
"For the next year, it's a reasonable expectation that...2,000 cars driving past my house on any given weekday," resident Amy Gribben said, describing traffic on South Brentwood Drive and asking when a promised engineering study would be available. Council staff said the township will defer a new engineering study until the State Department of Transportation provides final Route 73 plans. Meredith, the township clerk, told residents she had spoken with DOT staff and that a final plan is expected "by next year," which the township's engineers want to see before authorizing a new study.
Speakers disputed traffic counts and enforcement data during the public hearing. Edwin Gribben noted a multi‑day detector study that recorded about 2,100 vehicles for several days and described an earlier February study that logged an average speed of "approximately 18 miles an hour" but also captured isolated high speeds. Residents pressed for ticketing and intersection‑specific enforcement statistics; township staff and the municipal prosecutor said ticketing data are not logged by intersection and cannot be run as a location‑specific report. "The system doesn't allow you to run a report in that nature," a township official said.
Council members repeatedly framed the repeal as a pause to allow fuller technical review rather than a dismissal of safety concerns. The clerk and police representatives described continuing enforcement patrols and recommended residents keep raising concerns while engineers incorporate DOT plans into any recommended measures. After public comment, the council moved to close the hearing and carried the motion to repeal Ordinance 26‑15 (returned via Ordinance 26‑21).
