By Reuvain Borchardt

 

 

 

Lakewood motorists were in for quite a surprise over the weekend as they discovered that the state had enacted significant changes at the town’s central intersection.

 

Left turns are no longer allowed from Route 9 onto Central Avenue or Hurley Avenue.

 

Southbound drivers approaching Central/Hurley will now have two lanes, of which the right lane will be for either straight or right turns and the left lane will be straight only. The other two lanes of the road will be for northbound traffic.

 

Previously, the southbound side of that road had three lanes: one for rights only, one for straight only, and one for lefts only. The northbound side had one lane, which only became two lanes a bit farther up the road, at the BP gas station.

 

 

Northbound drivers approaching Central/Hurley used to have two lanes, the right one for straight and right, and the left one for left only. Now, the right lane will still be straight and right, but the left lane will be straight only.

 

Now, southbound drivers who had intended to make a left onto Hurley to access South Clifton/Cedarbridge Avenue will instead need to make that left on Main Street/Route 88 and then make a right onto South Clifton.

 

Northbound drivers who had wished to make a left onto Central Avenue to access the southwestern part of town will now have to either:

 

— Make that left earlier turn earlier, such as at James Street, then use Sunset Road to get to central Avenue or Drake Road to get to New Egypt Road

— Make the mother of all jug handles by driving straight to Route 88 and making a right turn there, then another right onto South Clifton, and then another right onto Hurley, before continuing straight to Central

— Or, for those wishing to access the far-western part of town, go straight and then make a left onto North Lake Drive and drive to Hope Chapel Road.

 

The state — which controls any intersection involving state roads, including Route 9 and Route 88—believes that these changes offer the best method for ensuring smoother traffic flow on the heavily congested Route 9 between the lake and James/Pine Streets, and that the streets that will now have to absorb more traffic thanks to the ban on lefts at Route 9 will be able to do so.

 

Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein told The Voice that the committee has had “extensive conversations for years” with state Department of Transportation officials over various Route 9 projects. He said he opposed the ban on lefts and presented the DoT with an alternate proposal for reducing traffic that would have kept the left-turn lanes in place and added a lane in each direction at the intersection. This could be accomplished without an actual widening of the road, but by making each lane a bit smaller and removing some or all of the shoulder, similar to the current dimensions of Route 9 on the north side of town. But the state rejected the plan, believing that shoulders are important for drainage, bicycle safety, and disabled and emergency vehicles.

 

“Although I hope I am wrong, I’m skeptical that this ban on left turns will have the desired effect of improving traffic flow on Route 9 and not cause serious issues on other streets that would be affected, like Route 88, South Clifton Avenue, and James Street,” Lichtenstein told The Voice. “I expressed this skepticism to the DOT and presented it with an alternate design by our own engineers, with input from local residents.”

 

Ultimately, Lichtenstein said, the current roads and number of cars—from residents of Lakewood and those from other towns who come here for school or shopping—means that traffic frustrations will be a reality here until Route 9 is widened.

 

 

Last fall, the DoT released plans for a widening of Route 9 around the area of the lake; a source familiar with the project told The Voice it is expected to cost at least $75 million of state money. But it will take years to implement.

 

DoT spokesman Steve Schapiro told The Voice then, “Concept development is expected to take two years, and then the project would move into preliminary engineering and then final design before going to construction. I don’t have estimates on when construction may begin.”

 

Local politicians have for decades dreamed and fantasized and worked and begged and pleaded and discussed and debated about widening the entire Route 9 in the south of Lakewood and Toms River, but that would have an exorbitant cost. Instead, they’re focusing now on widening a piece at a time, as funds become available.

 

But in the meantime, the state has been engaging in $48.5 million, federally funded project intended to improve seven miles of Route 9 between Indian Head Road in Toms River and 2nd Street in Lakewood.

 

The project resurfaces the roads and making modifications to 18 intersections, as well as installing or reconstructing sidewalks and widening shoulders to promote pedestrian and byciclist safety. This development at Central/Hurley is the 17th intersection modification. Previous modifications include widening eight signalized intersections and adding new signals at the intersections of Oak Street and of Broadway/Chateau Drive. Left-turn lanes have been added at seven unsignalized intersections.

 

The final of the 18 intersection modeifications will be at 2nd Street. “Work on that intersection will be taking place over the next few months with utility pole relocation, drainage improvements, new curbs to widen the roadway slightly,” Schapiro told the Voice. Additionally, a concrete barrier will be placed in the center of the road between 2nd Street and Main Street. The barrier is intended, Schapiro said, “to prevent left turns onto Route 9 from 1^st Street and to provide additional safety by separating northbound and southbound traffic.” The left-turn lane from Route 9 southbound to Main Street will be extended to 400 feet to provide more room for cars turning left, as many more cars will now be turning left there since they may no longer do so at Hurley. Also, a left-turn arrow will be added to the traffic light at 2nd Street.

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While the ban on lefts has raised the eyebrows — and in some cases, the ire — of  residents over the past week, it’s not the only traffic-related change in town in recent days.

A four-way stop sign has been installed at the corner of Forest Avenue and Second Street.

And, acceding to the requests of township officials, the DoT has installed left-turn arrows from Pine Street and James Street onto Route 9.

 

“We appreciate that the DoT put these lights in as we asked,” Lichtenstein said, “and we look forward to continuing to work with them to help improve traffic issues in the state’s fastest-growing township.”