Ridgewood Recap: Traffic Accidents Spike, Water Shortage Continues

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — The Ridgewood Village ran into a jam at their regular meeting on Wednesday, June 26, as they discussed the increase in traffic accidents at the Oak St. and Glen Ave. intersection and the N. Maple Ave. and Mulberry Pl. intersection. They received a report from Ridgewood Police Department's Capt. Glenn Ender and Sgt. Ray Tarino. They indicated that traffic accidents have increased from 2023 to this year. Last year, the Oak St. and Glen Ave. intersection alone saw 11 traffic collisions in all of 2023 — there have already been seven in 2024.

A massive roadblock to any possible solution is that the traffic lights are under the jurisdiction of Bergen County, and consequently, any remediation has to go through them. Ridgewood Police approached county officials about possibly adding a left-turn-only filter light on N. Maple to Glen Ave. — an idea that the county deemed unfeasible. A follow-up suggestion was to add a "lead" green light, where the left turn and straight lane would have a five-second head start. In response, the county began a traffic count study at both North Maple and the Oak Street and Glen Avenue intersection to assess the feasibility of the suggestion. Interestingly, the county conducted the study without notifying village officials, and there has been no word on when the results will made available.

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Also this week, Ridgewood's water shortage continued into the weekend, as the village continued to urge residents to limit their water usage and avoid watering their lawns until further notice. In a statement released on Friday, Ridgewood Water indicated that while the cooperation of residents has made a difference, restrictions could continue into the summer if residents do not continue to limit their water usage in the coming days.

Overuse led to Ridgewood's water reserves being exhausted, mostly from automatic lawn watering systems. One of Ridgewood's reserve tanks saw a 19-foot drop between 1 and 7 a.m., implying that many residents did not turn off their sprinklers overnight.  To combat the shortage, the village purchased over four million gallons of water from neighboring municipalities although, due to utility agreements and state regulations, it is not a measure that can be used regularly.

Read these stories and more from around Ridgewood this week:

• Ridgewood's Independence Day Fireworks Celebration Set for July 4 at 6 p.m.
• Ridgewood Village Council Deliberates How to Quell Traffic Accident Spike
• Ridgewood Water Begins Construction on Raw Water Main to PFAS Treatment Facility
• Ridgewood Guild's Screening of "42nd Street" Postponed to Thursday at 9 p.m.
• Ridgewood Resident Earns Masters Degree from Georgia Institute of Technology
• Ridgewood Native Graduates from James Madison University
• Ridgewood Board of Education Wraps Up School Year with ELA Curriculum Review
• Movies in the Park: Which Movies You Can Catch in the Park This Summer
• Sprinkler Overuse Leads to Water Shortage in Ridgewood

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