Leonia's ban on commuter traffic along local roads: Is it legal?

LEONIA — Residents cheered. Commuters cursed.

But as Leonia’s new law, which bans commuters from using backstreets during rush hour to reach the George Washington Bridge, took effect Monday, a key question remained unanswered: Is it actually legal?

Borough officials think so. They point to a 41-year-old Supreme Court decision affirming local governments’ right to restrict commuter parking in residential neighborhoods as proof of their authority over the more than 60 roads they're closing to pass-through traffic.

“We believe we’re on pretty firm ground,” said Judah Zeigler, the borough mayor.

Despite the mayor’s confidence, others — including legal experts and the law’s opponents — are less sure it will survive a court challenge.

“No, it is illegal,” said Steve Carrellas, head of the New Jersey chapter of the National Motorists Association. “Any municipality ... can get away with anything they want until they’re challenged in court.”

In the end, it will likely be the courts that decide the fate of Leonia’s ban, which officials say is a public safety initiative meant to ease gridlock in a borough planted two miles west of the world’s busiest bridge. While few would argue Leonia has intense traffic issues, borough leaders’ remedy is raising eyebrows and questions about how far a town can go to preserve quality of life for its residents.

On Monday, Leonia police barred shortcut-hunting commuters from scores of borough side streets and issued verbal warnings to those trying to sneak past Interstate 95’s eternal traffic jams.

Starting in two weeks, motorists risk a $200 ticket if authorities catch them skulking through the neighborhoods between6 and 10 a.m. and 4 and 9 p.m., seven days a week. Yellow resident tags, issued by the borough, will identify those who live on the block from those looking to peel minutes from their commute.

Three thoroughfares remain open to the public: Fort Lee Road and Grand and Broad avenues. But police closed others to those who don’t live or work there.

Richard Briffault, professor of local government law at Columbia Law School, said the Supreme Court decision Zeigler cites does create precedent for the borough to “favor their own” when it comes to scarce resources — in this case, the roads. But Briffault was not sure how the state viewed Leonia’s law. And the outcome may hinge on that.

“What power do they have under state law to close their streets? And can they discriminate against outsiders? And actually I don’t know the answer,” Briffault said. “The state could say they can’t. But until the state actually does say they can’t, I don’t know whether they can.”

More than 15,000 cars swarm Fort Lee Road on the worst days, flooding backstreets and overwhelming the 18-officer Leonia police department, officials say. Neighborhood logjams swelled along with the popularity of navigation apps like Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps — all which outline alternative routes to avoid traffic, said Tom Rowe, the borough police chief.

Now, traffic accidents, broken-down cars and road rage incidents tie up police officers and distract them from emergency calls, Rowe said. Other officials complain volunteer firefighters can’t back out of their own driveways, delaying fire engines and creating a public hazard. There have also been eight pedestrians involved in car collisions in the last three years, including one death.

Zeigler, the mayor, said scale is the only difference between Leonia’s road restrictions and those anywhere else. Leonia is just going further, out of necessity.

“We don’t want to do this. We have to do it,” Zeigler said. “Our mission in life is not to ruin people’s day with a ticket. Our mission in life is to make sure that when kids walk to school and adults walk to the bus stop to get to work, they can do so safely.”

Still, Leonia’s law begs comparison to Mahwah's recently-rescinded ban on non-state residents using township parks. The ban, adopted last June, was rescinded last month after the state Attorney General’s Office sued the township, contending the law discriminated against Orthodox Jews.

Gurbir S. Grewal, then-Bergen County Prosecutor, sent Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli a directive demanding Batelli ignore the ordinance. The ban, Grewal wrote, “invites Mahwah Police Department officers to stop individuals for no reason at all.” And it could lead to racial profiling and unlawful searches and seizures.

It is unclear if Grewal, who was sworn-in last week as state Attorney General, will take similar action against Leonia. A spokesman from Grewal’s office declined to comment.

Brian Chewcaskie, the Fort Lee municipal attorney who represents both Mahwah and Leonia, did not return a call for comment.

Regardless, there will likely be unintended consequences, said Cathleen Lewis, spokeswoman for AAA Northeast.

“You’re going to a playdate for your kid’s friend, and it’s the first time you’re going and all of a sudden you’re getting stopped because you don’t have your special tag,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of quality-of-life issues … that this creates.”

NJ ERUV: Timeline of the Mahwah eruv controversy

LEONIA: Borough to shut down residential streets during rush hour

DAY ONE: 60 residential streets closed to commuters Monday morning

Kelcie Ralph, an assistant professor of urban planning at Rutgers University, wondered why Leonia was taking this tack. Installing traffic diverters, narrowing streets and making others into one-ways would lengthen travel time and deter apps like Waze from even considering the route, she said.

“You’re not going to be able to keep people off the streets, but you can make your streets so slow and so much of a pain that no one would want to go through,” Ralph said. “Waiting in line for the bridge would be better than driving through the town.”

Email: janoski@northjersey.com