Traffic light approved at fatal accident site Signals coming to Rt. 34 at both Spring Hill and Amboy roads BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer State officials approved the installation of a traffic signal where an Old Bridge teen was killed in an accident last year. After conducting a study requested by Old Bridge, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) informed township officials Monday that it has deemed the signal appropriate at the intersection of Route 34 and Spring Hill Road. "I thank the mayor and council and other township officials in helping us to get to the point we're at now," Councilman Reggie Butler said at Monday night's council meeting. Efforts to get a traffic light installed began soon after Ashley Barton, a 17-year-old township resident, was killed on Sept. 5 while making a left turn from Spring Hill Road onto Route 34. Ashley, whose vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer, was on her way home from Old Bridge High School, where she had helped with the day's freshman orientation. Ashley was a peer leader and would have been a senior during the recently completed school year. Since then, township officials have been trying to get a traffic light at the intersection, Butler said. "I'm thrilled that they studied it and decided the best course of action is a traffic light," Mayor Jim Phillips said. State approval was necessary because Route 34 is a state-owned highway. Spring Hill Road is owned by Middlesex County. In order to have the light installed, Old Bridge is required to make a commitment to pay the electrical costs associated with the light's operation. The next step in the process is for the DOT to obtain a topographical survey of the intersection. Once it has that survey, it can begin design on the signal, according to a letter from Mark Tozzi, project engineer for the traffic engineering and investigations department of the DOT. Old Bridge Police Chief Thomas Collow requested the study on the need for a signal at the intersection. It has been the location of numerous accidents over the past couple of years, which Police Capt. Robert Weiss attributed in the past to its location on a hill, and the sharp angle of the turn. In October of last year, the council passed an ordinance to prohibit left turns at the intersection in an effort to improve safety. While the step was seen as an improvement to the dangerous intersection, officials still saw the installation of a traffic signal as the long-term solution to problems there. "Because of the severity of the accident there, and the consequences, and I know from my own experience there, I thought that doing that 'no left turn' at that intersection, and doing it immediately, was the right thing to do, and a very smart decision on our part," Council President Pat Gillespie said. Further south, where Amboy Road meets Route 34, there is a similar problem, Gillespie said. A traffic light there has already been approved by the state, and the design stage is completed. Next, the intersection must be redesigned, and acquisition of the right of way from a residential property owner must take place before the light is installed. The process for installing a traffic light through the DOT typically takes a couple of years to complete, according to Gillespie, because of the various stages involved. The light at Spring Hill Road, however, should not take quite as long because no land acquisition is necessary for its installation, he said.