Residents Object To Permanent Maple Street Closure At Summit Meeting

SUMMIT, NJ — *Editor's note: It was previously stated that a traffic study was conducted by SDI for the Maple Street closure. Patch was informed by Summit's spokesperson that a traffic study has not yet been conducted and would need to be carried out by municipality engineers.

Since May of this year, Summit residents have been able to take advantage of outdoor dining on Maple Street, which has been closed off to vehicular traffic. As winter is now approaching, the City is considering whether or not to reopen the street.

The Council voted in May to close the street for outdoor dining until Nov. 30, however Summit Downtown Inc. (SDI) has a proposal to keep it closed all year round. Several residents spoke out at Tuesday night's Common Council meeting, strongly opposing this permanent closure.

A majority of residents argued that closing the street permanently will cause more traffic in downtown Summit and that most people will not eat outdoors in the colder months anyways.

Council President Marjorie Fox said that she personally does not support a permanent closure but is open to a seasonal closure. She said the council has not yet gone to the state to discuss a permanent closure.

Fox added that the council has set a tentative date on Dec. 6 for SDI's consultant to speak about Maple Street usage. She said the consultant will talk about a range of options for Maple Street — not just a permanent closure.

Summit resident Charles Cusumano said he is not in favor of a permanent closure but would be open to a "modified closure." He proposed that Maple Street could be open to traffic while school is session and then closed for outdoor dining during the summer.

"It is a road, it's not a plaza," Cusumano said. "It's one of the two roads that goess across town."

Longtime resident Bob Ruark said he has been driving down Summit Avenue during rush hour lately and notices how crowded it is. He suggested that the City should prioritize moving traffic through town rather than focusing on outdoor dining.

Ruark noted that the Maple Street temporary closure started during the pandemic as a way to help businesses provide outdoor dining and stay open at that time. At that time, Ruark said there were fewer drivers on the road, but now with people driving to school and commuting to work, Ruark said a permanent closure is no longer feasible.

Ruark also asked if a traffic study will be done. Fox informed the public that SDI conducted a survey among residents and business owners in the area, but a traffic study has yet to be done.

Other residents, such as Efram Stanley, posed the issue of safety in relation to the Maple Street closure. Stanley said closing the road poses a risk for first responders — such as police, firefighters and the EMS squad — in that traffic could slow them down when responding to an emergency.

One resident who lives on Maple Street said the current closure has "created a completely erratic traffic pattern, causing traffic to have to circle additional blocks just to get to their location."

Because of the large orange barriers that the city has placed on Maple Street, the resident said he has to sweep garbage on the street because the barriers are preventing street maintenance.

Another resident, Brian Gagnon, compared the closure of Maple Street to a "clogged artery" in town.

"There are three primary streets through town — Summit Avenue, Morris Avenue and Maple Street," Gagnon said. "Choking off one of the major arteries has singlehandedly caused city-wide traffic angina, and this is before any decisions are made on the Broad St. West project..."

As a solution, Gagnon suggested expanding the sidewalks on Maple Street to "maximum capacity" so that outdoor dining can take place one the sidewalks.

You can view the complete Summit Council meeting on YouTube below:

What do you think about a permanent closure of Maple Street? Comment your thoughts below!

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.