Patricia Mayer
Guest Column
Lake Avenue in Helmetta has become more traveled since the development of Heather Glen and Forge Road. More families mean more automobiles.
Everyone knows that Manalapan Road/Main Street is too congested for residents of this area to drive to East Brunswick, so they use Lake Avenue as a means to get over to Cranbury Road.
That alone should have prompted the borough of Helmetta, and also Middlesex County, to examine this road for safety and take appropriate action. Local residents of Lake Avenue have been vocal about the 25-mph speed limit, which is enforced and supported by all who drive through. There are those drivers, though, who do not pay attention to the speed limit or other conditions on Lake Avenue, and that makes this sweet little road a very dangerous place to drive.
Can’t the state Department of Transportation (DOT) assist us here in this little hamlet?
What has not been taken into consideration is the allowing of dangerous curbside parking by residents on that street.
The street lighting is inadequate for that stretch of road, due to the large trees, and the road is physically too narrow for two moving lanes of traffic with cars parked on one side. Add to that the recent snow piles, and you have a recipe for disaster. Numerous accidents have occurred there over the past several years, causing property damage as well as physical injury, yet the situation has not been remedied. What are we waiting for?
I drive through there twice daily to and from work, when I make several other trips per week to the mall and when I visit friends. Last week I was almost a victim of a head-on collision as I was driving home from work at 7 p.m. I was traveling east on Lake Avenue, and there were cars following behind me. I saw a car approaching me westbound in the distance, and I wondered if he saw the vehicle that was parked in his lane up ahead of him.
I know that street well and know exactly where there are usually parked cars, so I was cautious. Even though I knew the auto was parked there, I could barely see the shadow outline where I anticipated it to be. The driver in the westbound auto was traveling just a little too fast to see the parked car until the very last second when he swerved into my lane to avoid hitting it. Fortunately, I had practically slowed to a halt, leaving the oncoming car enough space to maneuver back into his lane without hitting me.
Travelers who use the road less frequently or who may be distracted for a split second may not have been as fortunate. “No parking” signs would do much to prevent accidents.
A flood of emotions came over me as I drove the last few blocks to my home. I was very shaken by my close call. I am angry with the borough of Helmetta for permitting parking on a dangerous street. I was angry with the resident for being ignorant of the danger that his or her parked car posed to innocent drivers. (The fact that one particular car had already been hit twice in a short period of time should have made the resident think seriously about ever parking there again). And I was also upset that the poor street lighting could easily have been corrected to better illuminate the street, making parked automobiles more visible.
Whether the borough, the county or the DOT needs to review this street is second to the common sense that the residents of and visitors to Lake Avenue homes should be exercising.
Why wait for a fatality before we change the situation?
Patricia Mayer is a resident of Spotswood