Route 9/Lacey Road Work Expected to Start Soon

Lacey residents and drivers who travel Route 9 through the area of Lacey Road will be facing longer travel times in the coming weeks, as a project to widen and improve the intersection is expected to get under way soon.

Engineering plans on display at a public information center last week at the Lacey Municipal Building laid out the details of the changes to the intersection, and local engineers from the Department of Transportation were on hand to answer questions from the public about the project and its impacts. About a dozen residents took advantage of the three-hour session, according to the sign-in sheet.

The $4 million contract for the project was awarded to Earle Asphalt Company, of Wall and Farmingdale. The first phase of the project will be moving the utilities, and that is expected to begin within the next few weeks, said Joe Dee, a public information officer for the DOT. Once the utilities are moved, construction work can begin, he said.

"Fall is the best we can do right now," he said. "There's much utility relocation work to be done."

Then the extensive reconstruction work will begin, with a projected completion date of spring 2014, DOT officials said.

Currently, the intersection "operates at over capacity conditions," according to the DOT information sheet distributed at the information meeting — something that comes as no surprise to most Lacey residents. The reconstruction is designed to move traffic more easily through that intersection, with particular emphasis on the eastbound portion of Lacey Road and the southbound part of Route 9.

Drivers traveling south on Route 9 now have a single through lane and a right-turn lane as they reach the intersection, with those wishing to turn left directed to turn right on Oak Street and Parker Avenue to connect with the eastbound lanes of Lacey Road.

After the widening, there will be two through lanes southbound as well as a right-turn lane. Left turns will continue to require drivers to use Oak Street/Parker Avenue. But the plans also include a dedicated left-turn lane to access Jones Road.

A median will separate the southbound and northbound lanes of Route 9 and a pedestrian island will be added to frame the southbound right-turn lane to allow for easier pedestrian crossing. 

Eastbound Lacey Road will be widened to four lanes, with a left-turn lane, two through lanes and a right-turn lane.

Northbound Route 9 will include a left-turn lane, a through lane and a right-turn lane. Westbound Lacey Road will have a left-turn arrow on its combined left/through lane to allow vehicles turning left to proceed without waiting for the eastbound traffic to clear. Currently, at high-traffic times, one or two vehicles at most are able to make a left turn from Lacey Road onto southbound Route 9 during each cycle of the light.

Donna Bahrle of Lacey, who began advocating for the widening back in 2000, said she was pleased to see the improvement project finally come to pass.

"This has gone on for 12 years," said Bahrle, who advocated for the project with the support and assistance of state Sen. Christopher Connors. "Six DOT commissioners later, the bid has finally been awarded."

While construction proceeds, traffic will be allowed through the intersection, Dee said, with lanes shifted as needed.

"If we have to take a lane and alternate traffic, it will be only at night, when traffic is light," Dee said. "During the day there may be times when we close the shoulders and or shift traffic."

The construction includes the installation of sidewalks where ones do not exist currently, as far as the project extends. The widening extends from the church access road for the Forked River Presbyterian Church at the north end to Oak Street on the South end.

It also will change traffic patterns for TD Bank and for customers of the Towne Square Shopping Center. TD Bank's exit that allows customers to get on Route 9 south shortly before the intersection will be eliminated, as will a similar exit from the shopping center onto Lacey Road.