Byram Diner Closed

in 32 years, there have never been more than 4 cars in parking lot....he had a large piece of property that leads back onto Brookwood road....the neighborhood does not want it

steven ✉
Sep '19

By the way ...picture is quite old....motel had been gone for over a decade +

steven ✉
Sep '19

I always thought it was a front for criminal activity because there were never cars in the lot but yet they somehow managed to stay open forever. Admittedly, I may watch too much TV...

Joe Friday ✉
Sep '19

I always thought it was closed and abandoned.

Sam ✉
Sep '19

I hope this works out better than the "shoprite in blairstown" rumour

Bug3
Sep '19

Where's Byram?

Reggie Voter ✉
Sep '19

There's a quick check across the street.....is that quick check taking over the diner spot?

Mj ✉
Oct '19

The diner has been demolished.

Murif
Oct '19

Mj

Yes, Quick Chek has been fighting with Byram Twp. for a long time to grab that spot and make it into a larger gas-selling location like they did in Hopatcong and they want to do (and apparently will do) here in Hackettstown. In Hopatcong's case, it was a no-brainer. They had a small QC downtown and the property that was the location of a number of failed clubs was up for sale. It was in an easy in and out location on Lakeside Blvd. where you have a lane going each way and a turning lane in the middle as well as shoulders.

Of course here, they had a plan to build in Washington Twp. on Rt. 46E across from the Target entrance, but I believe W.T. got that shut down via the wetlands there and Highlands Act. (though I'm not totally positive on that one).

Of course plans to put it here on Mountain Ave., across from the current QC have been met with opposition and rightly so. Traffic is often ridiculous there to begin with, mainly since the DOT Traffic engineers don't seem to have a clue. When the bridge was rebuilt on 46, the light timing just afterwards was pretty good and seemed to allow for maximal flow (at least IMO due to being at that intersection in various directions at many times of the day. They returned the timing to what it had been, or close to it and of course everything jammed up again and yes, that's taking into account that 46 was now open going westward. Keeping the light timing as it was during construction or close to it seemed to help greatly in terms of overall traffic flow. Placing this new monstrosity in that already dangerous corner does not seem to have any positive effects for the community at large, especially since they seem to not be recommending a light at that corner. I'm sure it's too complex a thing for them to figure proper timing with the 5 points light and there will be many folks essentially "blocking the box", as they quite often do at the Moore St. & Rt. 46 intersection.

In Byram's case, people that prefer QC coffee over DD coffee in the morning rush will mainly be trying to cross over from Rt. 206S to the Northbound side corner, then try to rejoin Southbound traffic through the Brookwood Rd./Waterloo Rd./Rt. 206 intersection. That's where it could be problematic shpould there be a lot of AM commuters trying to "push the light" to get there with Northbound traffic also trying to do the same. I've seen it often and they'd need the police monitoring that intersection to grab scofflaws in the hopes of monitoring behavior so nobody gets killed. The PM commute doesn't seem to be near as problematic (based on my own observations only, of course).

As you can see, I definitely understand steven's concerns at the top of the thread. There is also the fact he mentions that I'll expand upon. A branch of "Lubber's Run" is on a downhill slope on the other side of Brookwood and the corner bank. Lubber's Run then joins/becomes the Musconetcong River within a mile or so of there and it doesn't join it as a small stream at that point either. Above that branch it's the drainage for both Jefferson Lake and Lake Lackawanna and if you check the map, you'll find that it essentially IS a main source/headwater of the Musconetcong River. Safeguards should be in place against accidental spillage since the property drops off rapidly towards Lubber's Run.

This is all just my opinion and conjecture of course, but while QC is supposedly rated as one of NJ's top businesses to work for, the "bulldozing" of communities by their lawyer team and "sold out" historic consultants seems to not be for sites that would not always work well in partnership with the community. In Hopatcong's case, yes, it was definitely a great move for all involved. For Byram and Hackettstown, I think, great move? Not so much.

But of course, as they say. "Build it and they will come". We'll see what the results are after the sites are up and running.

Phil D. ✉
Oct '19

Funny, growing up near Buffalo, we had a school indoor pool.....and winters were cold. Post week-end swim, with frozen hair, we would enter the town diner, order up some fries and warm up to that hot oil covering.

Ah.... memories.

Strangerdanger ✉
Oct '19

Quik Chek is building a combination convenience store and fuel plaza on the old Byram Diner property.

murof
Oct '19

This is so sad for me. I used to hang at the Byram Diner from the late 60s to the mid 70s. My parents had a summer house at Cranberry Lake. I spent many days and nights hanging there with my friends from Brookwood. In the last 20 years - I’d make an annual visit.

Bob Donlan ✉
Mar '20

Byram Township is run by a bunch of pretentious jerks.

Person23 ✉
Apr '20