Left-Turn Signals At Target, Michael's In Toms River Move Forward

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Ocean County Board of Freeholders is moving forward with a plan to redesign the traffic signal on Hooper Avenue at the Target and Michael's shopping centers, the board announced.

The board on Wednesday authorized the county engineer to seek bids on redesigning the traffic signal and traffic pattern, a plan that was first announced last August.

The goal is to allow motorists leaving the two shopping centers to make left turns onto Hooper Avenue without having to access nearby U-turns. Currently motorists leaving the Ocean Center, home to Target and Lowes, must drive north to Indian Hill Road and to then go south on Hooper Avenue at the jughandle. Those leaving the Commons at Hooper, home to Michael's and DSW, have to drive to Oak Avenue to make the U-turn to access Hooper Avenue north.

The work is expected to start in the fall, the freeholder board said in a news release.

Read more about the details of the plan here: 2 New Left Turns Coming To Hooper Avenue In Toms River.

The plan also includes improvements to signals all the way into Brick, said Freeholder John P. Kelly, director of Law and Public Safety and liaison to the Ocean County Department of Engineering.

"This is a heavily traveled area of the Hooper Avenue corridor. We believe this modification will have a positive outcome with traffic safety and accessibility," Kelly said.

"We will be improving traffic signals along Hooper Avenue from Toms River into Brick Township. This project is part of the numerous recommendations made in the updated County transportation master plan that focuses on upgrades in the four municipalities in the transportation plan," he said.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com