How Will Broad St. West Impact Traffic In Summit? Experts Explain

SUMMIT, NJ — Summit's Common Council meeting Tuesday night was a packed house, with residents eager to hear the results of a traffic impact study conducted for the Broad Street West redevelopment project that may be built in the near future.

Two traffic engineers spoke at Tuesday night's meeting, and Matthew Seckler — the principal for Stonefield Engineering and Design — said, in summary, that the new development would have little impact on the overall traffic in the city.

Despite Seckler's thorough break down of the traffic impact study and how he arrived at this conclusion, many residents brought up concerns and disbelief that traffic would only be slightly impacted.

Discussions about the Broad St. West project have been ongoing since 2016, but the council has recently taken further steps toward a redevelopment agreement. The project involves creating a mixed-use building with 10,0000 square feet of retail space, as well as 140 market-rate and affordable housing rental units.

Read more: Summit Debates Broad Street West Redevelopment At Council Meeting

A financial expert also evaluated the overall costs of the project at the previous council meeting on March 3.

What is the traffic analysis based off of?

Seckler began his presentation by stating that the complete traffic study consisted of a lengthy 600-page document and that he would try to boil down the analysis as succinctly as possible.

The study involved analyzing 18 intersections in Summit, as well as five time periods where traffic is at its peak — including weekday morning rush hour, school arrival rush hour, school dismissal rush hour, evening rush hour and a Saturday shopping peak.

As the study began in 2021, Seckler's firm adjusted its analysis to pre-pandemic traffic volumes, using data from 2018. Seckler said he relied on the 2018 data set as a basis for comparison and then grew the 2021 data up to those pre-pandemic values.

"In a lot of downtowns, especially in areas with train stations, I don't think we've gotten back to that pre-pandemic level," Seckler said.

The analysis also looked at accident history at the various intersections around Broad St. West, as well as a parking review specific to the "demands of the development," Seckler said.

Besides motor vehicles, Seckler said the firm included other forms of transportation, such as bicycles and pedestrians walking, as part of the impact study.

How much more traffic is expected?

Seckler explained there are two components of the redevelopment site: residential and retail.

To calculate the traffic based on the number of residents that the new development could hold, Seckler said his firm based their calculations on the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual.

He said this manual was created when traffic engineers, like himself, sat and counted the number of cars, people and bikes that traveled in and out of different developments. Based on this standard information, engineers can project how much traffic future developments will generate.

Seckler said census data, the number of commuters and the number of people who own cars in this general area of Summit were all part of his analysis, as well.

In the busiest hour in the morning, Seckler predicted that about 26 more cars will be on the roads with new development in place, as well as seven more bicyclists and 17 more pedestrians.

In the busiest hour in the afternoon, Seckler predicted about 18 more cars on the road, five more bicyclists and 12 more pedestrians.

For the retail component of the traffic impact study, Seckler said the firm made projections based off the development having a high-traffic generating retail store — essentially a worst-case scenario.

"It's almost like if 7-Eleven moved into this development and all that traffic comes to the site, what would that generate to this location?" Seckler said.

He said traffic from retail is more difficult to predict because Summit has not yet decided what kinds of retail will be built into the development.

With the current state of traffic, Seckler said Morris Avenue during morning rush hour consists of about 1,000 cars. With the addition of the new development, he said there could be one additional car on the road for every two minutes — a little less than a 2 percent increase in the amount of cars on the road.

Seckler broke this statistic down in simpler terms:

"If you have a car leaving every two minutes and you're just a driver unrelated to this project and you happen to come to the Broad and Morris intersection, I would say about twice during that week there may be one more car in front of you at the light," Seckler explained.

In comparison to the traffic that already exists, Seckler said the added traffic from this development would be "a drop in the bucket."

Seckler also identified certain intersections that can be improved in order to ease traffic in the area — mainly along Broad Street.

The full presentation explaining these traffic improvements can be viewed below.

Council members and residents respond

During the comment section of the meeting, Council member Lisa Allen asked Seckler if fewer parking spots were available for residents in the new development if that would then result in less traffic.

Seckler agreed and said fewer available spots for residents would result in less overall traffic.

In a previous meeting, it was announced that the development would provide only 196 parking spaces for the 140-unit building.

However, some residents raised concerns that the new development would replace some already-existing public parking spots in the city, which would make parking as a whole more difficult.

Allen also mentioned how many neighboring towns have been building more apartments and developments, which could bring more traffic as people drive through Summit.

Seckler said his firm referred to Union County's published traffic trends as part of the impact study, and he said the firm also took into account nearby developments that could affect traffic in the Summit area.

Resident Don Nelson expressed concern over the fact that Seckler's study mainly focused on the residential portion of the development versus the commercial aspect. Nelson said delivery trucks often populate the downtown when retail stores need deliveries, which then blocks certain parking spots for residents.

Additionally, Vivien Hardy said she is worried about how the development will affect other areas of the town, besides just main roads, because she has noticed that many drivers go onto residential streets to avoid traffic on the main roads.

"One of my main concerns is that this is a small area and [the study] does not include the impact it could have on the rest of the town," Hardy said.

She said going across Maple Street and getting onto Mountain Avenue are particular problem areas for traffic.

"The more cars we have in a concentrated area of downtown, the more I think that will affect our residential areas and could even affect our property values," Hardy said.

Hardy added that she believes there are too few parking spots available for 140 units, as most people — even if they are in the same family — tend to need their own cars.

"Most people drive their own car, and if it's a married couple, they're going in different directions. They're not going in the same car," Hardy said.

Many other residents voiced their concerns about traffic in regards to Broad St. West. To hear more, watch the full meeting on YouTube below.

To learn more about the Broad Street West Redevelopment project, visit the City's website.

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