Route 70 - Chambers Bridge traffic changes back on
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
Traffic at the Route 70 and Chambers Bridge Road intersections was expected to ease this week, now that the drivers can no longer make left-hand turns onto Route 70.

The traffic pattern plan was slated to change June 24, after a flurry of phone calls on Monday between Brick Township Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis, state Department of Transportation officials and the Ocean County Engineer's office.

"Now the DOT says it's on for the 24th," Acropolis said. "People got together, we had a couple of conference calls with the county engineer, people from the state. We were able to hash it out."

Acropolis was taken by surprise last week when he learned secondhand that the DOT had planned to postpone the traffic change at the intersection for at least 30 days, because work on the Route 70 - Cedar Bridge Avenue state project was not finished.

It was little more than two weeks ago that Acropolis and representatives from Birdsall Engineering, the township's traffic engineer, gave a presentation at the June 9 Township Council meeting to outline plans they said would ease congestion at the traffic choked intersection of the two highways. The change was originally scheduled to start June 23.

Acropolis found out about the plans to delay the traffic change late last week, after the DOT's regional engineer sent an email to Birdsall Engineering, the township's engineer.

"Communication may have broken down for a period of time," the mayor said.

Acropolis spent much of Monday morning on the phone with county and state agencies, trying to get the traffic change back on track.

The proposed changes are the results of extensive traffic studies conducted by Birdsall Engineering, which examined traffic flow and traffic counts on Route 70, Chambers Bridge Road, Cedar Bridge Avenue and Brick Boulevard.

The Route 70-Chambers Bridge Road improvement project is a major, but relatively inexpensive plan that would eliminate left-hand turns from Chambers Bridge Road onto Route 70 east or west. That would allow traffic on Chambers Bridge Road to travel north and south simultaneously. The plan would also increase the time the lights stay green on both highways and will allow more cars to travel through the intersections before the lights change.

Even if the Route 70-Chambers Bridge Road traffic pattern changes did temporarily affect the Route 70-Cedar Bridge Avenue project under construction, it would still improve traffic at three of four intersections, the mayor said.

Under the proposed improvement, drivers who want to access Route 70 east from southbound Chambers Bridge Road will have to go to the intersection of Chambers Bridge Road and Brick Boulevard. Motorists who want to get on Route 70 west from northbound Chambers Bridge Road will have to use the U-turn on Ovation Way.

Township police will be on the scene to monitor the roadways when the changes take place. Roadways will be striped, and the township and county will also provide a number of signs, Acropolis said.