Speed limit enforced in construction area
DOT funds help pay
for officers’ time spent monitoring traffic
JERRY WOLKOWITZ A speed detection board posts the speed of passing motorists along the construction area on Route 130 just north of Raider Road in North Brunswick.
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Township police are closely monitoring the area where the state Department of Transportation is working on the Route 130 interchange project.
"The DOT is having officers come out on township time to strictly enforce the speed limit in the area," said North Brunswick police Sgt. William Kloos. "We have guys out there from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. almost every day. On some nights they are out there from 6 to 9."
A few months ago, the DOT agreed to have the speed limit in the area of Route 130 and Raider Road reduced to 35 mph. There has been a staggering number of speeding tickets issued at intersections in that area on Route 130, according to Kloos.
"In January, we issued 152 speeding tickets at Route 130 and Huff Road," Kloos said. "In February, we issued 185 tickets in the same area. We have also issued 105 tickets at Franklin Road, 78 tickets at Independence Boulevard, 61 tickets at Wheeler Road, 50 tickets at Sherman Road, and 41 tickets at Raider Road in January alone."
Those numbers all increased for the month of February, according to Kloos.
The officers who work the area are paid by the state, according to Kloos.
"They work about 25 hours a week by DOT reimbursement," Kloos said. "The hours and the days tend to vary, depending on the weather. The 25 hours a week are supplemented by on-duty officers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sometimes we even have officers on the weekend because the DOT sometimes has workers out there.
"We requested the assistance from the DOT," Kloos said. "They gave us the approval and responded very fast. We have had a good relationship with them on this project."
Due to the number of tickets that have been issued, instances of cars speeding in the area have decreased, according to Kloos.
"Most of the traffic guys say that the speeds have dropped," Kloos said. "We are trying to make people aware of the changes. The ticket totals have risen. We are finding that some people aren’t from the area. They are not familiar with the area. There are often trucks making deliveries coming off Route 1."
Kloos said that tickets issued for speeding in the work area are very expensive.
"The fines double in the construction area so we are looking at an average of $150 per ticket," Kloos said.
Although drivers may not always see the officers, they are closely monitoring the area, according to Kloos.
"We have officers in the area a great deal of the time," Kloos said. "Sometimes we have a patrol car, and other times we have an unmarked car monitoring the speeding. We find that when the drivers see that there is an officer in the area, the speeds tend to reduce. When drivers do not think they are being watched, they are more likely to speed."