Debate centers on left turns at accident site

Some feel proposed

ordinance would create

other problems

BY MARLENE CANTY

Staff Writer

Traffic restrictions proposed as a result of a recent fatal accident at Route 34 and Spring Hill Road were at the center of a contentious discussion during Monday's Old Bridge Township Council meeting.

As Police Chief Tom Collow began to tell council members and residents about the proposed ordinance that would prohibit left turns at the dangerous intersection, opposing voices rang out from at least two sources in the room.

"Does that mean there would be no left turns permitted out of the Cheesequake Deli and the car wash as well?" asked Councilman Dennis Maher.

When Collow assented, Maher said that the ordinance could damage if not destroy local businesses by diverting traffic away from them.

Those businesses also include a pharmacy currently under construction at the intersection.

The traffic measures were proposed after the tragic death on Sept. 5 of 17-year-old high school senior Ashley Barton, whose vehicle was sideswiped at the intersection by a tractor-trailer truck while she turned from Spring Hill Road onto Route 34.

"My heart goes out to the family of this young woman, but putting up a sign saying no left turn creates more problems than it solves," Maher said, asking council members and the police chief if anyone had polled the residents of Spring Hill Village to get their thoughts on the suggested ordinance.

Maher, as well as Carolyn Smoljan, a nearby resident who first raised the issue of the need for traffic measures at the intersection a few weeks after the fatal accident, said that a "no left turn" sign is not an effective way to deal with the problematic intersection.

"People encountering the sign are going to have to back down that road," Smoljan told the council.

According to Collow, drivers encountering the sign would simply make a right turn and use the jughandle at the next traffic light.

Collow disagreed with Maher that the proposed sign would adversely affect businesses at the intersection.

"The sign would not affect people coming to any of these businesses," he said, noting it would only affect drivers leaving the businesses.

Collow said the "no left turn" plan involves the use of a series of auxiliary signs at Cottrell Road and Route 34, at Old Mill Road and Route 34, and on Spring Hill Road just before it intersects with Old Mill Road - all assisting motorists going north in finding safe ways to make the left turn.

Collow said the council came to the police department after the Barton tragedy and asked that it come up with some immediate measures that might make the intersection safer for motorists.

"The 'no left turn' sign was the quickest and safest measure we could institute, but it does not preclude the town applying to the state and county for a traffic light," Collow said.

According to the police chief, the request for a traffic light would probably involve the state conducting a study of the intersection before making its own determination, all of which would take time.

"We're happy to institute whatever measures the town agrees upon," Collow said.

The process of that approval only begins with the Town Council. Because Route 34 is a state highway and Spring Hill Road is county-owned, the measure can be passed locally, but the process would then involve the township applying to the state and county for approval.

After the Barton accident, residents had asked that some expeditious measures be instituted before any other accidents occur at the intersection.

"I don't want to lose sight of the tragedy of this situation and I certainly support the overall plan to do something at this intersection," Maher said, "but putting up a sign is not going to solve the problem. What will happen is that residents won't use that deli anymore, they won't use that car wash. By putting up that sign we are adversely affecting a whole community and I can't support that."

According to Callow, based on information his office was able to gather, the sign is the safest, most expeditious way to make safe the dangerous intersection.

The council will vote on introducing the ordinance to prohibit left turns on Monday.

Smoljan agreed with Maher that the "no left turn" measure is a quick fix that won't truly solve the problem and that could create other problems.

"While I appreciate the efforts of Councilman Reggie Butler and Police Chief Collow and the fact that the town is attempting to address the problem, I would rather see the intersection at Route 34 and Spring Hill stay the same, and have the state conduct a full-out comprehensive study of the problem, than have the town spend time and money on a quick fix that only exacerbates the problem."

Smoljan said her main objection is that the measure will result in a build-up of traffic at the various intersection along and around Spring Hill Road, which she had previously cautioned were "death-trap" intersections that are just as dangerous.

"I don't know what the ultimate solution is. At least one of those intersections, Old Mill at Route 34, already has a light, but it is still dangerous trying to turn left there. A blinking light might help at Spring Hill and Old Mill. But the 'no left turn' sign at Spring Hill and Route 34 is just a Band-Aid that will send more people onto these other dangerous roadways. Frankly, I think the only permanent solution is for the state and county to do that study, and then even if it costs some money, come up with a permanent cure," she said.