Every day, and every night, countless Smoke Rise residents journey in and out of the problematic gates that separate their tight-knit community from the rest of the town of Kinnelon. However, passing through these borders, and the barriers that separate them, are causing massive complications in the flow of traffic.

The gates are operated electronically; to get into Smoke Rise, residents must use a tag on their windshield which is electronically scanned by the reader on the pillar, and “wallah, the gate slowly opens up, flashing green as it does so. 

However, for non-residents, things get a little trickier. Residents must provide their name, and the address that has put their name down into a system for entry, and wait nervously as the security guard checks. If their name is in the system, the first gate flashes green and opens, and the driver may roll forward to yet another gate that, while tricky, eventually opens up as well, and then the non-resident can merge lanes with the residents if it is clear to do so.

A lot, right? Well, add the technical issues of the gate.

“In the past month, three times it’s happened,” says an anonymous Smoke Rise security guard worker in response to the number of times the gate has been hit or damaged by cars. She declined to have her name in the publication. “Some people just go too fast, it really depends.”

For such a prestigious community in Kinnelon, one would expect the gate to do more than just cause issues for residents and non-residents. However, it has also hindered some teenagers from getting to school on time. 

“I was late last week because the gate broke,” says junior Brayden McCormick. “They should leave the gates open between 6:30 am and 7:30 pm.”

While McCormick’s advice may help in the daily flow of traffic in and out of Smoke Rise, the big issue is the legality of hitting the gate. 

“Basically, we put it back on,” says the anonymous Smoke Rise security guard. “We have to write a report if someone does damage to their car or the gate.”

This is what halted the flow of traffic last Thursday when the daily rush of both adults and teenagers tried to leave from the East gate, off Kinnelon Road. A school bus hit the gate, thus damaging the bus and the gate, and the driver and a security guard had to share insurance.

“It was completely uncalled for,” says senior Troy Schneider. “Even though attendance was halted for that day, so was my ability to get to school. Something needs to change.”

Schneider is right, and so are all of the other Smoke Rise residents who pay lots of money every month for their “community dues,” as well as the teenagers and even children of these adults who pay these dues and rely on an orderly passage in and out of Smoke Rise. 

Perhaps the answer is yet to come for many years as technology evolves, or Smoke Rise will eventually be open to everyone. Still, for now, residents should slow down before the entrance before the gates come crashing down…