"The existing roadway cross-section does not provide sufficient width to accommodate installation of a dedicated left-turn lane in accordance with NJDOT safety and design standards."
That sentence comes from a letter dated Aug. 25, 2026, written by Rahmiati Anthony, a project management specialist at the New Jersey Department of Transportation. It was addressed to Craig Peregoy, the traffic engineer at Dynamic Traffic LLC who works on the McDonald's drive-through proposed for the former Friendly's site at Dayton Road and Speedwell Avenue. The letter's title is "Denial Of Waiver Request." It holds that cars heading into the site can't turn left across Speedwell without a dedicated left-turn lane, and that this stretch of road has no room for one.
Close to two years of local hearings, votes and a lawsuit led to that point. The decisions that matter now are mostly out of the borough's hands. A state access code, a state deadline and an ordinance the borough passed after the approval are what will settle the project's future. The way those three interact gives the applicant a strong reason to keep the current application alive in some form.
The Borough Approved a Site Plan. The State Controls the Driveway.
Speedwell Avenue through the center of Morris Plains is also New Jersey Route 202, a state highway. NJDOT, not the municipality, issues permits for driveway or street access onto state highways, and the department decides whether a permit is needed and which type. The state's State Highway Access Management Code gives each stretch of highway an access classification based on its function, setting and traffic. Each classification comes with an "access level" that sets which turns are allowed between the highway and a property.
According to NJDOT, this part of Speedwell is Access Level 4. At that level, left turns off the state highway "must utilize a dedicated left-turn lane where warranted by design and safety considerations." The code also says that when the state denies an access application, its decision on how the site is reached is final, even if a municipality or county has acted otherwise. Any later local review has to follow the state's decision.
That explains why the 2024 approval was never the final step. Mayor Jason Karr's Sept. 10, 2026 letter to residents says the Planning Board's approval was conditioned on NJDOT approving access from Speedwell. The Morris NewsBee made the same point in November 2025. The Friendly's had already been torn down, but the drive-through plan still needed state review.
Here is how the decisions have moved between agencies:
| Date | Body | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 18, 2024 | Morris Plains Planning Board | Approved the two-lane drive-through 5-4 after about 25 hours of testimony |
| Jan. 22, 2026 | Superior Court | Issued an order denying relief to nearby residents who challenged the approval |
| Nov. 13 and Dec. 18, 2025 | Borough Council | Introduced and then approved Ordinance 11-2025, removing drive-through restaurants as a permitted use in the B-2 zone |
| Aug. 25, 2026 | NJDOT | Denied the waiver for a left turn into the site from Speedwell |
| Aug. 26, 2026 | NJDOT | Issued plan review comments with two access options and a 90-day response window |
| Sept. 10, 2026 | Mayor Jason Karr | Published a letter to residents laying out the possible paths forward |
The mayor's letter says he didn't learn of NJDOT's denial until Sept. 9, more than two weeks after the applicant was told. He then had the Borough Engineer get a copy. In a project where the state now holds the key approval, the borough isn't always the first to find out what the state has decided.
What the State's Data Says About This Part of Route 202
The denial rests on crash data for this stretch, not on the hearing record. NJDOT's letter gives the corridor a crash rate of 11.13. The statewide average is 4.6, so this stretch runs at more than double. The letter also finds that 61% of crashes on this segment happen between intersections, which it calls "a concerning pattern of mid-block conflicts." It concludes that a new unsignalized left turn without a dedicated lane "would increase vehicular conflict points in an area already experiencing elevated crash activity."
The applicant argued that other properties along Speedwell already have similar left turns. NJDOT rejected that argument. The letter notes that the state hasn't issued a Major Access Permit on this section of road "since the early 2000s," and that every new access application is judged against the current Access Code and current safety data. The older left turns along Speedwell were approved under earlier standards and aren't a precedent for new ones. Any future driveway application on this stretch of Route 202 will face the same review.
Two Options and a Deadline in Late November
On Aug. 26, a day after the waiver denial, NJDOT sent the applicant plan review comments. Under the heading for Major Access Permits, the department asked for revised plans that adopt one of two approaches:
- Remove the left-turn entry from the site's access design.
- Remove the left-turn entry and redesign site access to allow full-movement access on Dayton Road.
The same section asks for a revised developer agreement that reflects a consolidation of lots, a lot consolidation deed, and the new block and lot number on the cover sheet. It also notes that "other governing bodies associated with the project may impose different requirements that must be met."
The deadline is in the next paragraph. The applicant has 90 calendar days from the date of the correspondence to respond in full. NJDOT won't accept a partial response, and if none arrives in time, "the application will be considered withdrawn without notification pursuant to N.J.A.C. 16:47-9.6 (d)." Ninety days from Aug. 26, 2026 is Nov. 24, 2026. As of early October, about seven weeks remain.
No response had been reported publicly by then. Morristown Green's Sept. 14 story said it had asked project attorney Frank Vitolo and NJDOT for comment and would update the story. A Morristown Minute report on Sept. 17 said the borough hadn't announced a revised application or a new Planning Board hearing.
Why the Existing Application Is Worth Keeping
The borough's own ordinance turns the November deadline into a much bigger decision.
After the approval, the Borough Council took up Ordinance 11-2025, which removes drive-through restaurants as a permitted use in the B-2 Business Zone. It was introduced unanimously on Nov. 13, 2025 and approved at the council's Dec. 18 meeting.
Councilman Bill Houston explained how it applies to this property when the ordinance was introduced:
"Put a different way, as the McDonald's application was filed prior to this ordinance, nothing changes there. But if, for some reason, that project is not completed or falls through, in some way, the application is canceled, and any new applications for that property cannot include drive-thru restaurants."
That quote explains the stakes. Today's application is the only one under which a drive-through can still be built on this corner. If it lapses at NJDOT, a new filing would come under the B-2 rules as they stand now, and those rules don't allow a drive-through. Both of NJDOT's options keep the application moving. Missing the deadline could end the drive-through for good. A smaller site design is one thing. Losing the right to a drive-through is another, and that gap probably shapes how the applicant answers before Nov. 24.
What Could Send It Back to a Borough Hearing
Mayor Karr's letter describes three ways the project could go forward: NJDOT reverses its decision, Speedwell Avenue is widened to fit a left-turn lane, or the Planning Board amends its resolution approving the project. "The manner in which it may seek to proceed is entirely up to the Applicant," he wrote. NJDOT's letter has already found that the current road isn't wide enough for a dedicated lane. That makes a design change along the lines of the department's two options the most direct route.
The borough comes back into the process at this point. Plan Better Morris Plains is a nonpartisan, volunteer group of residents formed in February 2025 after the approval. In a July 2026 letter to Mayor Karr and Planning Board Chair Mike Garavaglia, the group said the resolution approving the project requires another public hearing at the borough level for any "material alterations to the approved plan." Its website says the same thing. If the project changes materially, the group says, it has to go back before the Morris Plains Planning Board for public review.
Moving the main entrance to Dayton Road under NJDOT's second option would change how the site is reached. Whether the board considers that a material alteration hasn't been decided in public. Even removing the left-turn entry under the first option leaves the cars that would have turned left needing a different way in, and the plans submitted so far don't show what that would be.
If you want to follow this yourself, three sources carry it. The Borough of Morris Plains website posts official letters and Planning Board agendas. Morristown Green has covered every stage since 2024. Plan Better Morris Plains posts the underlying NJDOT records it got through a records request. On the calendar, Nov. 24, 2026 is the day NJDOT considers the application withdrawn if no full response has been filed.
Road access and zoning decisions like this one shape the blocks around Speedwell Avenue for years. If you own a home near the corridor and want to understand how changes in the center of town fit into your property's value, Margy and Denise at the DeFazio Flanagan Team can sit down with you for a personalized valuation and neighborhood consultation.
