Safety measures called for after teen fatality
Rt. 34 intersection is scene of 8 accidents since January 2005
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

Citing the tragic death of a 17-year-old high school student in a recent car accident on Route 34, a township woman is imploring Old Bridge officials to make safe what she termed a "deadly" intersection.

"This can never happen again," Carolyn Smoljan told a packed house at Monday's Township Council meeting.

Smoljan was referring to the untimely death earlier this month of Ashley Barton, whose vehicle was sideswiped by a tractor-trailer truck at the intersection of Route 34 and Spring Hill Road as she attempted to merge with oncoming traffic in the pouring rain. No one was charged with traffic violations in the collision.

Ashley was to start her senior year two days after the accident, which occurred on her way home from helping out at freshman orientation.

Smoljan, who lives nearby, called the intersection a death trap and suggested a traffic light as a possible solution.

With a trace of smothered emotion in her voice, Smoljan told the governing body, "I didn't know Ashley or her family. But this isn't just their problem at this point, it's a town problem and someone has to step up.

"I hope you won't wait until someone else is killed before something is done," Smoljan said.

According to Old Bridge Police Lt. Robert Weiss, the intersection is prone to accidents because it is situated on a hill with a sharp angle.

"It can be particularly treacherous in times of heavy traffic, inclement weather or for less-experienced drivers," Weiss said.

Four accidents occurred at the intersection in 2005, and four have already taken place there so far this year, according to Weiss.

Police Chief Tom Collow and the department's traffic and safety bureau are researching ways to make improvements to the intersection, along with other possible solutions, Weiss said.

Councilman Reggie Butler, of Ward 3, where the intersection is located, said part of the problem with getting anything done is that Route 34 is a state-owned highway, and Spring Hill Road is owned by Middlesex County.

"Any changes made to either thoroughfare would have to be sanctioned by the state Department of Transportation and the county respectively," Butler said.

He said he had spoken with Smoljan and intended to take her passion along with some of her suggestions to the appropriate state and county officials.

Butler believes a possible solution might be to make Spring Hill Road a one-way street.

According to both Butler and Smoljan, there are several other intersections in the area that should be considered potentially dangerous. Among them are the intersection of Route 34 and Old Mill Road, the intersection of Spring Hill and Old Mill roads, and the intersection of Spring Hill and Cottrell roads.

"At rush hour or busy times I'm very wary of these roads," Smoljan said, referring to them as accidents waiting to happen.

Possible solutions that have been discussed with respect to these intersections have ranged from changing the speed limit, using flashing warning signals as pedestrians approach the intersections, moving stop signs closer to the intersections, and asking police to set up radar to keep track of traffic speed patterns and enforce speed limits.

But even if speed limits are changed at an intersection like Spring Hill Road, the road still lies on a hill, and oncoming traffic tends to speed up as it flows down the hill, Butler said.

"The poor guy who hit Ashley Butler would have been right up on her before he ever saw her," Butler said. "There would have been no way he could have stopped."

But Smoljan noted, "It just shouldn't have happened. We should have done something a long time ago."

She said she intended to find out more about the process so that she can be a part of the solution.

Smoljan said later that she and other motorists are reminded of the recent tragic event by a cross that's been set up as part of a small memorial at the intersection. Perhaps this reminder will help to spur action on the issue.

"... At the meeting when I got up to speak, I couldn't remember Ashley Barton's last name," she noted. "I knew her first name was Ashley though, because I see it every morning on my way to work."