Marlton residents call for broader Taunton Lake Road project, but that won't be happening.

Bike lanes, detours, right-of-way acquisitions, noise-reduction devices and sidewalks were on the public's mind on Tuesday at a virtual meeting about a $12-million, 18-month Taunton Lake Road construction project in Marlton that Burlington County says will improve safety and reduce congestion.

In 1984, an average of 6,200 vehicles traveled Taunton Lake Road daily between the Kings Grant entrance and Tomlinson Mill Road. By 2019, the latest year for which data are available, that total more than tripled to about 19,300 vehicles daily, according to Bruce Easterly of the engineering firm Taylor Wiseman & Taylor.

"The number of accidents has also increased each year," Easterly said. "The majority of accidents are rear-end collisions caused by…either driver distraction, intersection backups or vehicles turning into driveways."

Another virtual meeting on the project will be held this Thursday at 7 p.m. Details on how to attend are here on the Evesham municipal website.

The project would overlay Taunton Lake Road and install eight-foot-wide shoulders containing bike lanes on both sides, beginning at Kings Grant Drive (the development's entrance) and ending at Marlton Parkway, Easterly explained.

A bridge spanning Black Run near Camp Creek Run on Taunton Lake Road will be replaced. Frequent flooding problems along the road will be addressed by one stormwater basin constructed on an unused part of the Laurel Oak Garden Center property and another on open-space land that Burlington County owns on Marlton Parkway.

Shoulders will be widened one side of the road at a time, meaning two-way traffic on Taunton Lake Road will be maintained throughout most of the project, with only "temporary isolated traffic stops" during the bridge replacement.

"The project had to go through (New Jersey) Pinelands Commission and (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) approvals for all the encroachments in the wetlands," Easterly said. "It took about 12 years to get all those approvals."

Right-of-way acquisitions for portions of Laurel Oak Garden Center, Camp Creek Run and 18 residential properties will take about a year to complete, according to Easterly. Construction will start once that process is complete.

Dave Scott, co-owner of the garden center, told 70and73.com on Friday that he was "open to the idea" of using part of his property for a stormwater basin. Representatives from the Camp Creek Run declined to comment. 

Easterly was asked by a member of the public if installing noise-reduction devices along the project route was possible, to which Easterly said no.

"The traffic is not moving closer to homes, so they are not increasing the traffic noise," he explained.   

Another member of the public asked if sidewalks could be installed near the project route.

Again, Easterly said no.

"We have to draw the line somewhere," he explained. "If we include one thing for one concerned party, then you might have to do something else for somebody else, and before you know it, the project is just expanded much beyond what the county's budget."