The New Jersey State Police are targeting speeders on local roadways, and will continue to do so.
At the Jan. 21 Millstone Township Committee meeting, Trooper Randy Pangborn, the New Jersey State Police’s liaison to Millstone, said that in the past two weeks, troopers have been working to resolve some of the serious traffic issues near the three schools in the township. So far, 31 vehicles have been stopped from the hours of 7 to 9 a.m., and the result is the issuance of 12 miscellaneous summonses, nine summonses for speeding, and 12 warnings.
“We are blanketing the area,” Pangborn said.
He said that one area resident who was stopped by a trooper for going 45 mph in a 25 mph zone responded, “What the [expletive] are you stopping me for?” Pangborn said that such behavior would not be tolerated.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” said Mayor Nancy Grbelja. “We have a horrendous problem with speeding.”
She said she follows the speed limit, and people are always tailgating her. In her view, the roads with the most speeders are Millstone Road, Spring Road, Clarksburg Road, and Agress Road, where she lives.
Pangborn agreed, calling Millstone Road “mayhem.” Pangborn said he has asked the state commander to get a speedmonitoring device for the township, which may be used in conjunction with a speed monitor the township already has.
Committeeman Fiore Masci said there was a lot of commercial traffic going through town, especially dump trucks. He asked if there was a commercial division within the state police that could do safety checks on these vehicles. Pangborn said there is such a division within the Hamilton Barracks, but it works primarily along Route I-195. He said he would find out if checks could be done in Millstone.
Pangborn also reported that there were 74 burglaries in the township last year: 19 residential burglaries, five commercial and 50 vehicle break-ins. Of the vehicle burglaries, 95 percent were committed by a group of four individualswho have been apprehended, he said.
“There was a team running through town, and we’ve caught up with them,” he said.
Pangborn asked residents to report suspicious persons or vehicles by calling 609- 584-5015. Most burglaries happen during the day when people are at work, he said.