Road Closures and Lawsuits: Local Roads Cause a Legal Controversy in New Jersey

It's a familiar story: local residents don't want commuters cutting through their neighborhoods, and commuters are pushing back.

1 minute read

February 5, 2018, 12:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Svetlana Shkolnikova reports that a resident of Edgewater, New Jersey is challenging the legality of road closures in Leonia, New Jersey, located to the north.

"In a complaint filed Tuesday, Jacqueline Rosa accused Leonia of infringing on her access to public roads and violating the public’s right to freedom of travel by restricting some 60 residential streets to residents of Leonia due to overflowing traffic from the George Washington Bridge," according Shkolnikova. Rosa's concern is with Edgewater Road, which she used to connect between Route 4 and her home—until Leonia closed the road.

Rosa's lawsuit is litigating the road closures on technicalities, alleging "that Leonia adopted the new law improperly, failing to consult with the state commissioner of transportation, provide notice to the county and adhere to a state statute that sets fines for violations of road closures at no more than $100," according to Shkolnikova.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018 in NorthJersey.com

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