Politics & Government

Detours in Effect on Kinnelon Road

Mayor said repairs are in the county's hands, but they should be complete within three months.

It could be as long as three months until the  is repaired by Morris County after a portion of the street collapsed during 

"The county is going to control the timing on the repair," said  Mayor Bob Collins, who added that he hopes three months is longer than the borough will have to wait to be able to use the road again.

Collins said the section of the road that collapsed, by Turtle Pond and Lake Rickabear, was re-paved three or four years ago. At that time, Collins said the county engineer had accounted for the water near the area of the portion of roadway, but that no one could have predicted the influx of water from Hurricane Irene.

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"How do you plan for water of the levels that we had seen? It was just incredible," he said.

As a result, the borough has enlisted the help of Boonton Township to cover those residents who are unable to be reached by Kinnelon's emergency responders for emergency situations. Collins said the borough has already heard from a resident who is unable to use Kinnelon Road to travel through the borough.

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"I received a call from one resident who felt that they were cut off from the borough and that, in fact, is the reality of the situation," he said.

 Lt. John Schwartz said there are approximately 20 residents affected by the closure, in addition to the camp at Lake Rickabear (one family lives at the camp, he said). The residents will have to use detours to get around the road until the road is fixed.

Schwartz said Kinnelon Road is not the only roadway that collapsed, as two culdesacs, one in Smoke Rise and one by Pheasant Run, saw partial collapses, as well as Forge Road, in Smoke Rise, which had a major collapse on the roadway.

"The rush of water that came down just could not be handled," Schwartz said of Forge Road. "It washed out a huge swath of roadway."

The Department of Public Works (DPW) did build a temporary bridge over Forge Road so that residents whose homes would have been blocked off could get out. Superintendent John Whitehead, the borough engineer and road department worked to build a temporary road to bring the residents to safety. 

As for Kinnelon Road, a temporary solution was not available.

"They have to design a bridge and see exactly what they need," Schwartz said.

Lynn Apolinaro, public relations director for the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, the owner of Lake Rickabear, said the camp was already closed for the summer, so the road closure mainly affected troops wishing to rent the camp for retreats.

"Basically, you can't get to Lake Rickabear from Route 23," she said.

Apolinaro said they are providing troops detour maps and information to get to the camp from alternate routes. 


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