The News Transcript constantly publishes letters from residents complaining to municipal officials that traffic on streets in front of their homes is increasing as more motorists seek shortcuts around congested intersections.
Their complaints should instead go to the commissioner of the Department of Transpor-tation and be about the stupidly designed signalized intersections and other practices that cause congestion.
State law 39:4-8 states: “The commissioner shall not be required to approve any such ordinance, resolution or regulation, unless, after investigation by him, the same shall appear to be in the interest of safety and the expedition of traffic (my emphasis) on the public highways.” Such ordinances are required for virtually all traffic-control devices (signals, signs, one-way streets, etc.). The legislative intent of safe and efficient movement of traffic is clearly spelled out in several other statutes and appears in the DOT’s own mission statement.
Nonsense like green left-turn arrows that light when no traffic is waiting, or remain lit for a fixed time instead of just until the last car passes; signals that operate fixed timing, meaning they interrupt main traffic flow even if no traffic is waiting on side street approaches; 24/7 No Turn On Red signs; and signals that operate 24/7 instead of flashing red/amber during off hours are some examples of practices that are in defiance of the safe and efficient mandate. They don’t even meet the less stringent requirement of safe or efficient movement.
Even one of the newest signals in the county, in Marlboro at Route 520 and Kenduck Drive, operates in the same stupid, congestion-causing, three-phase, fixed-timing mode. Often, three of the four approaches have red lights that cause backups at all three approaches, while the one approach with the green has no traffic at all.
President Bush is killing our youth off in Iraq over oil, yet the commissioner, intent on maintaining the state’s income from the gas tax, still ignores what the statutes mandate and continues to approve designs that waste gasoline (keeping us more dependent on Middle East oil), pollute our air and waste our precious lives.
Let the commissioner know what you think.
He is John F. Lettiere Jr. You can contact him by e-mail at www.state.nj.us/transportation/about/ (click on contact njdot) or write to him at the Department of Transportation, 1035 Parkway Avenue, Trenton 08625.
For county roads, write to Monmouth County Engineer Joseph Ettore, Hall of Records Annex, 1 E. Main Street, Free-hold 07728.
By the way, those of you who do succeed in getting municipal officials to block shortcuts along the roads in front of your homes, which you mistakenly view as for your private use, are contributing to the congestion problem.
Until the design problems are corrected, the congestion solution is increased use of alternate routes.
Raymond Kostanty
Manalapan