help manage traffic at
busy intersection
Upgrades may improve
issues at Main, DeVoe
Project designed to
help manage traffic at
busy intersection
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
SPOTSWOOD — Officials are hoping that major changes planned for the DeVoe Avenue and Main Street intersection will improve traffic problems.
Traffic backup can be a nightmare at the intersection, with school traffic as well as out-of-town visitors combining to produce long lines of cars on the two roads. Mayor Barry Zagnit said the upgrades planned by Middlesex County, which has jurisdiction over Main Street, will improve the traffic flow, but he believes the traffic backups will continue.
At its Nov. 24 meeting, the Borough Council passed a resolution allowing Zagnit to enter into an agreement with the county for the work. The improvements will include a new left-hand turn lane and green traffic arrows for left turns, as well as some realignment and reconfiguration of the roads. The traffic signal itself will also be upgraded.
The county will pay for 75 percent of the costs, while Spotswood will pick up the remaining 25 percent, the mayor said. He did not have any cost estimates yet for the work.
Zagnit said the problems run deeper than just the need for a new traffic light. The volume of traffic is too heavy for the intersection.
"We’ll still have backups," he said. "This will just move it a little quicker through the intersection."
The problems, he said, are caused by the additional housing continuing to be built in nearby towns such as Monroe and Helmetta.
"The reality is this will not make rush hour traffic go away; just manage it," he said. "We’ll see cars from the new developments in the town soon. The answer to the traffic problem is to find an alternate route for cars, but that’s not within [Spotswood’s] ability."
The intersection serves as a major artery for people traveling from Helmetta and Monroe to Route 18 and destinations in East Brunswick and Old Bridge, and Zagnit said he has made contact with Monroe Township officials to discuss the traffic problem.
"This will not get any better, only worse," he said of the effect development has on traffic.
The proposed work on the intersection, he said, will not even get started until 2005, and the project is of "considerable" size for a small town such as Spotswood.
Councilman Curtis Stollen said the new green arrows on the traffic light will allow for easier left turns onto Main Street from Vliet Street — which is opposite DeVoe Avenue at the intersection — and from DeVoe Avenue. Vliet Street will also be widened to accommodate a new left-turn lane.
In addition to the road work and traffic light, the project also will include new arms for the light, as well as new loops in the road. Loops, or sensors, are wires underneath the blacktop that sense motor vehicle motion. The sensors control when the light turns red, Zagnit said.
Though many people are not aware of the loops, Zagnit said the borough already uses them at other lights. Their purpose is to improve traffic flow by monitoring it. In some cases, the computer-based loop system is set up to actually count how many cars go through a light, then change the light to red once the quota is met. In other cases, the light will stay red until the sensor realizes a car is waiting for the green signal.
"This way the light can be set to accommodate rush hours," he said.
The town actually uses a combination of loops and lights where the signal changes on a time-oriented basis, such as every 30 seconds, he said, and stressed that addressing the situation at the intersection is critical.
"We have to do [these upgrades] because of the incredible volume of traffic going through the town," he said.
While Spotswood will be responsible for purchasing any property needed to accommodate the work, the county has agreed to do all maintenance of the traffic light, as well as perform repairs.