The state rejected a request to allow left turns into the proposed Speedwell Avenue drive-through without a dedicated turn lane, leaving the applicant with three possible paths forward.
MORRIS PLAINS, NJ – A proposed drive-through McDonald’s on Speedwell Avenue, Route 202, cannot proceed under its current access plan after the New Jersey Department of Transportation denied the applicant’s request to allow left turns into the site without building a dedicated left-turn lane.
The Morris Plains Planning Board approved the restaurant application in December 2024, but the approval was expressly conditioned on NJDOT authorization for access from the state highway. That condition left the final highway-access decision with the state rather than the borough.
According to a September 10 public letter from Mayor Jason C. Karr, NJDOT sent its denial to the applicant’s engineer on August 25, 2026. Borough officials and municipal professionals were not copied. Karr said he directed the borough engineer to obtain the letter after learning of it on September 9.
The denial concerns a waiver sought by the applicant, not a blanket state rejection of every possible restaurant design. NJDOT declined to allow the proposed left-turn movement without a dedicated lane, meaning the project would have to change before construction could proceed.
“On August 25, 2026, a letter was sent to the Applicant’s Engineer that the NJDOT denied McDonald’s request for a waiver to allow left-turn access into the site without a dedicated left-turn lane. That decision is solely within the jurisdiction of the NJDOT as was made clear in the Board’s Resolution. Neither the Borough nor any of its Professionals received a copy of the denial. On September 9, 2026, upon learning of this correspondence, I directed our Engineer to obtain a copy of the NJDOT denial letter from the Applicant’s Engineer which was then circulated to our Professionals. As it currently stands, in order to proceed, the proposed development would require: a revision of the NJDOT denial; or widening of Speedwell Avenue and addition of a left-turn lane; or an amendment of the Board’s Resolution of approval. The manner in which it may seek to proceed is entirely up to the Applicant.” – Jason C. Karr, Mayor
Karr identified three possible routes for the applicant: seek a revision of the NJDOT decision, widen Speedwell Avenue and add a dedicated left-turn lane, or ask the Planning Board to amend its 2024 approval. The applicant controls which option, if any, it pursues.
Any effort to widen the highway would raise additional design, engineering and right-of-way questions. A revised local approval could also return the project to a public land-use process, depending on the changes requested. The borough has not announced a new Planning Board hearing or a revised application.
The Planning Board’s earlier vote approved a drive-through restaurant at the former commercial properties at 415 and 435 Speedwell Avenue, according to prior local reporting. Traffic and access were central issues during that review because Route 202 carries both local trips and through traffic in the borough’s commercial corridor.
The state decision therefore narrows the issue without ending the proposal. The applicant still has options, but each would require either a different state access outcome, physical changes to the highway approach or a change to the local approval already granted.
Residents should watch for a revised NJDOT filing, new engineering plans or a Planning Board agenda listing the property. Until one of those steps occurs, the project’s approved local site plan and its denied highway-access request remain out of alignment.