County Calls for Traffic Signal, Again

Patch Editor Keith Brown contributed to this report.

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders have yet again urged the state Department of Transportation to implement traffic safety improvements along Route 33 between East San Marco Boulevard and Colts Neck Road.

At the Thursday regular meeting, the Freeholders passed a resolution asking the DOT to pursue and expedite the final design and construction of road improvements at an intersection plagued by traffic and accidents.

And this is not the first time the Freeholders have pushed the DOT to do so.

The Freeholders also passed a resolution urging the DOT to install a traffic signal at the intersection in December of 2011.

“Lilly and I said, “Lets send another and let them know we’re done waiting,’ “ Freeholder Deputy Director Serena DiMaso said.

The proposed signal is contingent on the development of the adjacent properties, County Engineer Joseph Ettore said. The new resolution asks the DOT to install the signal independent of the status of the development.

There were 144 accidents at that one intersection alone last year, DiMaso said.

Quick Chek will be built at the intersection, and the DOT expects the store to pay for the signal, DiMaso said.

But the owner of a gas station on the northwest side of the intersection claims the town illegally changed the zoning, allowing for the construction of the convenience store and a gas station on the southeast corner. The construction of the Quick Check as well as the traffic light is on hold until the resolution of the case.

“It’s right now caught up in paperwork of a convenient store going in,” DiMaso said. “We really need them to push this forward.”

At the intersection, is an age-restricted community currently under construction with 301 homes occupied and 182 more to be built. Freeholder Lillian Burry cast blame on the Howell Township Planning Board, saying that the subdivision should have been responsible for installing the traffic signal.

“It was poor planning,” she said. “And it’s not finished. It’s going to be more compounded than it is now.”

The resolution states that the intersection has “significant safety, operational, bicycle, and pedestrian deficiencies that impact the local community as well as regional traffic in Howell Township and Monmouth County.”

According to a previous Howell Patch story, traffic builds up on Colts Neck Road as drivers wait for the rare opportunity to turn left or right onto Route 33.

“Whereas, lack of dedicated turning lanes, high operating speeds and vehicular volumes on State Highway 33, and lack of gaps for queued vehicles on Colts Neck Road, contribute to an unacceptable number of crashes,” the resolution states.

The resolution ultimately insist the DOT installs the traffic signal and additional signage as well as investigate the closing of an existing passing zone and the existing posted speed limit of 50 mph.

“That’s a much needed thing,” Freeholder John Curley said.