2-Way Left Turn Lane, New Traffic Lights Among Route 9 Proposals

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A two-way left turn lane, added traffic signals and dedicated left- and right-turn lanes at some intersections are among the improvements proposed for a seven-mile stretch of Route 9 that will be discussed at a public meeting next week, state officials announced.

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority will hold two sessions on Tuesday, Aug. 23 — from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. — offering an overview of recommendations from the Route 9 corridor study, which has been looking at ways to improve the flow of traffic and reduce the number of crashes along the stretch from the Garden State Parkway in Toms River to downtown Lakewood.

The meeting will be in the Mancini Room at the Ocean County Library, 101 Washington Street, in Toms River.

The NJTPA began studying the issue more than a year ago, and held information sessions last August to gather input from residents and business owners about the issues facing those who drive Route 9 on a regular basis.

"The study aims to establish a long-term vision for the corridor; develop a package of low-cost, high-impact safety and operational solutions that can quickly be implemented; and develop a formal Access Management Plan to aid municipalities in regulating future development along the corridor," a news release about the meeting said.

The proposed improvements — which can be found online by clicking here — include a two-way, left-turns-only lane from Locust Street south to the intersection at Indian Head Road, new traffic lights at Stevens Road, in Toms River, and at Oak Street and Cushman Street in Lakewood, with a realignment of the intersection at Cushman Street.

Several New Jersey Transit bus stops would be relocated, and the proposal also includes reducing the number of driveways that access Route 9.

In a summary of the preliminary findings, the NJTPA said about 450 crashes per year in that seven-mile stretch, "which is 3 times the statewide average per mile for roadways with similar cross sections."

There are nearly 300 properties that access Route 9 in that area, with an average of 52 access points per mile, which increase the odds of crashes, the summary said. Those access points, many of them into businesses, create traffic bottlenecks, as do several intersections.

The summary also notes, however, that any plan to address the traffic issues is constrained by available road right-of-way. A proposal in 1998 to widen Route 9 to include a median and double left-turn lanes was dropped because it would have significantly impacted existing homes and businesses, including 81 (21 of them homes) in Lakewood alone.

The current proposal would impact 54 properties in Lakewood, including 11 homes, the summary says.

The open house-style meeting will feature information stations with maps detailing the proposed improvements, information about the Access Management Plan and an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on the recommendations.

A similar meeting is being scheduled for Lakewood to review recommendations for the portion of the Route 9 corridor in that community. The input gathered from these meetings will be included in a report, which is expected to be issued later this year, officials said.

The Route 9 Corridor Study’s Working Group includes municipal officials from Lakewood and Toms River, as well as representatives of Ocean County, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and NJ TRANSIT.

Additional information about the U.S. 9 Corridor Study in Lakewood and Toms River is available online at http://www.njtpa.org/Route-9-Study. Members of the public who cannot attend but would like to provide feedback can email Route9Study@njtpa.org.

A Google Maps photo shows traffic along Route 9 at Stevens Road in Toms River, which would receive a traffic signal under a proposal that aims to address congestion, bottlenecks and crashes along the highway in Toms River and Lakewood.