Residents: Amazon Warehouse Clogs Roads Near New Jersey Facility
ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Business is booming inside Amazon's warehouse in New Jersey, but residents say the holiday rush has led to gridlock on nearby roads.
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said the facility was approved for 1,000 trips in the morning and 2,000 in the afternoon.
But there are now 5,000 daily trips rolling in and out of the warehouse in both the mornings and afternoons, Fried said.
"Certainly more than the park was built to manage," Fried said.
Traffic grinds to a halt for miles when the fulfillment center's more than 4,000 employees are going in and out of the facility during rush hour, NJ.com reported. Fried hopes Amazon will help by upping the number of shifts at the plant from two to six to stagger and ease traffic flow.
According to Fried, Amazon officials did not show up to a meeting they arranged to figure out how to deal with the daily traffic jams, WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported.
"Instead they sent one of their PR people," said Fried, adding that he's sending the town attorney next week "to ask the court to shut the building down until Amazon gets within their approved levels."
The mayor said the infrastructure wasn't built to handle this much car volume. Fried says police officers have begun manipulating traffic lights to direct traffic. That cost is being paid by Amazon.
Amazon spokesman Aaron Toso says the company will continue to work with local officials to mitigate traffic issues.
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