Carmen Marranzini is more than just your concerned parent. She’s now a bit angry about recent tractor trailer traffic in her North Bergen neighborhood, around 51st Street and Columbia Avenue.
She’s not alone.
Jose Cruz feels the same way.
“Something has to be done,” Cruz said. “Something definitely has to be done.”
Or ask Walter Martinez, who has had two vehicles that were struck apparently by tractor trailers within the past month.
The problems stem from several businesses in the area, including the famed Colonna Foods Company, which need to have similar vehicles enter and leave the area to make deliveries. But apparently, the tractor trailer traffic is not limited to Colonna-owned vehicles.
“We asked the owners of Colonna to be more considerate of the neighborhood, but they told us that they have a business to run,” Marranzini said. “But they’re backing up their trucks with children passing by. It’s a very narrow street. The trucks can’t fit. It’s very unsafe.”
What complicates the matter more is that Franklin School is located just a block away from the traffic-related area, which means that hundreds of youngsters were subjected to dodging truck traffic on their way to and from school daily, before the last day of school last week.
“Plus, the trucks are out there, with their engines roaring, at 6:30 in the morning,” Marranzini said. “Our houses are shaking from all the noise.”
The mess has gotten out of control in recent weeks, so much so that Marranzini was forced to get the media involved, calling UPN Channel 9 News, as well as local newspapers.
“It was just coincidence that the Channel 9 news camera caught my daughter (14-year-old Melissa Cunyas) having to run across the street to avoid a truck,” Marranzini said. “Those trucks cannot be there. It’s too close to the school. It’s very dangerous. The neighborhood is not for trucks.”
Marranzini said that there are other businesses in the area, like a child furniture store, that also regularly uses the 53-foot tractor trailers in and out of the area.
Unfortunately, according to township spokesman Paul Swibinski, by law, there’s nothing much the township of North Bergen can do.
“First of all, the residents have to realize that industrial and commercial business is done in that neighborhood,” Swibinski said. “Tractor trailers have always come into that neighborhood for 70 years. It is a commercial-residential zoned area. It’s an example of bad zoning that is common in every big city in New Jersey. Towns used to allow factories to be built right next door to homes. Of course, that could never happen today, but the grandfather laws exist that allow the businesses to keep operating.”
Added Swibinski, “The matter has been thoroughly investigated and we found that the facility in question [Colonna Foods] is operating within the limits of the law.”
Swibinski pointed out that many steps have been made to try to alleviate the problems.
“First, we contacted Colonna Foods and they have agreed to start delivering at 9 a.m., instead of 7 a.m.,” Swibinski said. “Radar and speed traps have been put into place. There’s a blinking light at the intersection. The curbs have been painted yellow to prohibit parking. There have been rubberized strips put in place to slow cars down and concrete barricades have been put up to serve as more protection. We’ve done a great deal to control traffic in that area.”
Lt. Gary Richmond, the traffic coordinator for the North Bergen Police Department, said that the department has been cracking down to try to catch any trucks traveling in that area that shouldn’t be there.
“We’ve been monitoring it closely,” Richmond said. “It’s a tough situation, because it is a commercial/residential area. We can’t tell the trucks to not go in there. However, the trucks are supposed to go in, make the deliveries and come back out onto Tonnelle Avenue. They’re not supposed to go up the hill.”
Richmond said that a series of summonses have already been issued to truck drivers who are either parked or stopped illegally or traveled up the hill in a moving violation.
“Any truck that stops to make a delivery and is blocking traffic will receive a summons,” Richmond said.
A sign clearly states that no truck weighing more than four tons is permitted to enter the neighborhood (although they are allowed to make deliveries), but Marranzini says that sign has been totally ignored.
“We don’t want to see those 53-foot trucks in our neighborhood,” Marranzini said. “We want to reduce the heavy traffic and make the streets safer for our children. We don’t want to see any of the companies lose business. But we don’t want those big, heavy trucks.”
When Mayor Nicholas Sacco was made aware of the situation, he was angered.
“I find it very annoying,” Sacco said. “I’ve always tried to make the streets safer. I don’t care how, but something has to get done. I’ve informed the Police Chief [Angelo Busacco] to start issuing summonses to trucks down there. If we issue enough tickets, then maybe the problem will be solved.”
“The mayor is frustrated and annoyed by it all,” Swibinski said. “And he’s not ignoring it. If anyone sees a truck that blocks traffic, they should call the mayor’s office.”
Pete Colonna, the co-owner of Colonna Foods, refused to be interviewed.
One truck driver who works for Colonna, requested anonymity, but said, “We’re not the only ones. There are a lot of trucks in the neighborhood. But we have to make a living here. We have to come in here.”
Colonna Foods moved into its warehouse facility in the neighborhood a little more than two years ago.
“When Colonna moved in two years ago, they should have sent letters to the neighbors, informing the people the reason why the big trucks were going to be in the neighborhood,” Marranzini said. “We never heard anything.”