FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP —A state Department of Transportation (DOT) plan is in the works that would realign Okerson Road and make it an intersection with Willowbrook and Halls Mill roads.
The plan, which is yet to be approved, would realign and extend Okerson Road around several businesses and align it with Willowbrook Road.
Monmouth County officials recently approved the installation of a traffic signal at Willowbrook and Halls Mill roads, separate from the Okerson Road project.
Township Engineer Joseph Mavuro said state officials are working with county and township representatives to address problems in the area.
There are several factors that contribute to traffic problems in this area. One factor is the volume of traffic on Halls Mill Road that makes it difficult for drivers on Willowbrook and Okerson roads to make left turns onto Halls Mill Road.
There is also a hill on Halls Mill Road at the intersection with Okerson Road that creates a blind spot for drivers making left turns onto Okerson Road in order to reach a state Department of Motor Vehicles inspection station.
Mavuro said the Okerson Road realignment project will be a part of the Route 33 bypass project, which is ongoing and which the DOT has scheduled for a December 2002 completion.
He said township officials have no problem with the layout of the plans, and said some concerns expressed by business owners in the vicinity were easily addressed.
In other Freehold Township traffic news, DOT spokesman John Dourgarian said there are no plans in the works to install a traffic light at the intersection of Pond and East Freehold roads near the Route 9 intersection. There is a traffic light at the intersection of East Freehold Road and Route 9 north and Dourgarian said when signals are placed within a half-mile of each other there can be operational problems. He said DOT administrators are willing to meet to discuss the situation if municipal officials want to do so.

