Drivers navigating Montclair State University will need to find alternative routes as the entrance from Valley Road onto Yogi Berra Drive will be temporarily closed.
As of September 2nd, the entrance will be closed until further notice every week from Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to noon. University Police Department Chief, Tim Fox, shared the closure was intended to address traffic congestion in the area.
“The primary factor was gridlock,” Fox commented. “Traffic from the parking lots surrounding Blanton Hall, particularly Lots 17 and 19, combines with traffic coming down Webster Road and then onto Yogi Berra Drive toward Clove Road. At certain times, the intersection of Webster Road and Yogi Berra Drive becomes backed up, Webster Road backs up toward Lot 17, and Yogi Berra Drive backs up in both directions.”
Fox said the congestion also affected pedestrians, shuttle buses and emergency vehicles.
“People are sitting in traffic unnecessarily, pedestrians are interacting with a very high volume of vehicles, shuttle buses have difficulty moving through campus,” Fox said. “Most importantly, we need to maintain the ability of police, fire, EMS and other emergency vehicles to move through campus.”
The closure was implemented as parking areas near Blanton Hall and CarParc Diem reached capacity, creating additional traffic around campus. Fox made the decision in coordination with Vice President for University Facilities, Shawn Connolly.
Fox shared that the university has also experienced significant congestion during the late afternoon, approximately between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Traffic has been temporarily restricted for shorter periods during those conditions.
“This is based on actual traffic volume rather than a predetermined schedule,” Fox said. “Once congestion clears and spaces become available, we want to reopen the entrance and CarParc Diem as quickly as conditions safely allow.”
For students who rely on public transportation, the closure created additional challenges when travelling to and from campus.
Anaya Lopez, a sophomore political science major, shared how the closure made her commute more difficult.
“As someone who takes public transit to and from campus, a road closure is a major hurdle for my commute to school and home,” Lopez said. “My friends and I depend on those busses to get us to class on time, and with the road closures, it becomes much harder to do that.”
Lopez shared how she tries to find different routes, whether it’s being dropped off or taking another form of public transportation.
Commuter students were not the only ones impacted; resident students have also reported experiencing delays getting around campus.
Julianne Mamone, a senior jurisprudence, law and society major, said she relies on the shuttle to travel to and from campus.
“I need the shuttle to get on and off campus,” Mamone said. “The delays make that commute, short as it may be harder.”
For some students, the congestion extended beyond Yogi Berra Drive and affected nearby roads as well.
Althea Shatsky, sophomore, english major, said traffic on Clove Road made her walk back to her dorm more difficult.
“It normally takes me six minutes to get back to my dorm,” Shatsky said. “Last Friday, not only were the busses consistently 10 minutes behind schedule, but due to the traffic, it took me 20 minutes to get home because the UPD was stretched thin between traffic and handling students who were walking.”
The road is closed until further notice.
