By RICHARD PEARSALL
Courier-Post Staff
RIVERTON
Clara Ruvolo, a prominent Republican who has long been an outspoken supporter of the South Jersey Light Rail Line, threatened Friday to sue NJ Transit unless it "immediately" takes steps to modify the traffic signals the agency has installed along the line here.
Ruvolo, the president of borough council, is running for mayor in the Republican primary June 3, facing formidable opposition from longtime resident Robert Martin.
In a letter to NJ Transit dated Friday, Ruvolo took the agency to task for "a lack of any meaningful response" to the borough's concerns about the lights and said the borough's patience has run out.
"In the event that the concerns of our residents are not fully addressed by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, 2003," Ruvolo wrote in her capacity as head of council's public works committee, "a request for injunctive relief (in Superior Court) will be made immediately."
As part of its construction of the 34-mile, $1.2 billion, Camden-to-Trenton light rail line, NJ Transit has increased from three to nine the number of traffic signals in a 1.3-mile stretch along Broad Street from Palmyra to Riverton.
Because Broad Street runs down both sides of the railroad tracks, the new lights control what are in effect three-way intersections, adding to the length of delays drivers are experiencing at spots where they once proceeded at their own discretion.
Residents say they are steaming at intersections, taking sides streets to avoid them and even avoiding merchants if it means coping with the lights to get there.
Ruvolo cited safety concerns in her letter, calling traffic "unreasonably impeded" and contending the ability of emergency vehicles to maneuver may be compromised.
A spokeswoman for NJ Transit, Penny Bassett Hackett, said Saturday the agency has not received the letter from Ruvolo so it cannot comment on it, but said that its engineers have been "working closely with county engineers on the signals."
One thing they've done, she said, is "put 40 percent of the signals on flashers."
A drive down Broad Street from Palmyra to Riverton Saturday revealed two intersections flashing yellow lights to Broad Street traffic and a third intersection flashing red in every direction, causing some hesitation and confusion as drivers adjust to what amounts to a stop sign on Broad.
Bassett Hackett said NJ Transit "will continue to work with county engineers to improve the timing of the lights."
Barbara Potts-Drumheiser, who has lived in Riverton since 1976 and run the Victorian Thymes gift shop there since 1985, welcomed Ruvolo's threat to sue NJ Transit.
"Maybe it will wake them up in some way," she said. "It's not fair what they're doing."
Potts-Drumheiser said she and other merchants are "afraid this will keep customers away."
"We're a small town and most of our customers come from out of town," she noted.
Ruvolo, a close ally of Burlington County Republican Chairman Glenn Paulsen, is a member of the Delaware River Port Authority and an employee of the Burlington County Bridge Commission, who, up until now, has championed the light rail line despite significant opposition to it in her hometown.
Neither she nor Martin, her opponent in the primary, could be reached for comment Saturday.
Laurie Villari, who is running for Riverton council on Martin's slate in the primary, said there's no question the lights are a problem.
But she questions Ruvolo's timing.
"I wrote the resolution that opposed construction of the light rail line," said Villari, a former councilwoman.
That resolution passed over Ruvolo's objections.
"We knew this was going to happen," Villari said of the problem with traffic lights. "I don't think there's too much we can do about it now."
Reach Richard Pearsall at (856) 486-2465 or rpearsall@courierpostonline.com
