Route 1 traffic circles may be eliminated

The state Department of Transportation is considering replacing the Brunswick Pike and Whitehead Road traffic circles with roundabouts.

By: Lea Kahn Staff Writer
   The state Department of Transportation is considering eliminating the Brunswick Circle and replacing it with a roundabout — but no timetable has been set, according to DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon.
   The DOT also is considering getting rid of the traffic light and jughandle on Brunswick Pike at Whitehead Road and replacing it with a roundabout, Ms. Phalon said. A timetable for that proposal has not been set.
   The DOT’s long-term plan is to get rid of the traffic circles in the state in favor or roundabouts or grade-level intersections for safety reasons, Ms. Phalon said. Roundabouts, for example, improve traffic flow through an intersection.
   Lawrence Township officials suggested installing a roundabout at the intersection of Brunswick Pike and Whitehead Road several years ago, in conjunction with the redesign of Brunswick Pike between the circle and Mayflower Avenue.
   The one-mile-long stretch of Brunswick Pike, between the traffic circle and Mayflower Avenue, is within the Brunswick Pike South Redevelopment Area. The redevelopment area was created by Township Council in 1999 in an effort to spiff up the neighborhood.
   A proposal to get rid of the Brunswick Circle in favor of a roundabout was floated before residents in southern Lawrence Township last summer. The audience at that meeting largely supported the transformation of the circle into a roundabout.
   The point of the redesign of Brunswick Pike is to make the roadway more pedestrian-friendly and to eliminate barriers to interactions between the Colonial Heights neighborhood on the east side of Brunswick Pike and the Slackwood neighborhood on the west side, township officials have said.
   A roundabout and a traffic circle both have circular medians — but the diameter of the median for a roundabout is smaller than the median in a traffic circle, according to the New York State Department of Transportation Web site.
   The diameter of a traffic circle median is about 400 to 600 feet, while the diameter of a roundabout median is about 100 to 200 feet.
   A roundabout calls for approaching cars to yield to the cars already in the roundabout. In a traffic circle, cars already in motion must yield to cars seeking to enter the circle, the Web site said.
   Cars also enter roundabouts at a slower speed than in traffic circles, because of the roadway’s design, the Web site said. The entrance to a roundabout is curved, while the entrance to a traffic circle is straight.