Drivers heading wrong way
on Route 33 concern police
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
VERONICA YANKOWSKI Photo taken looking east on old Route 33 at Brickyard Road, Howell, shows the location that has been called confusing to motorists. To proceed east, drivers must bear right and go under the Route 33 bypass (pictured). Some drivers have not stayed to the right and have mistakenly entered the lane that carries oncoming westbound traffic on Route 33.
HOWELL — On Monday morning, work crews were at the intersection of old Route 33, Brickyard and Fairfield roads repainting lines and other traffic markings in an attempt to make the location safer for motorists.
Howell police sought state Department of Transportation (DOT) help to address a situation that has recently seen eastbound drivers heading into oncoming traffic on old Route 33 near the Fairfield Road intersection.
The problems are related to the opening of the adjacent Route 33 bypass and the reconstruction of the intersection of old Route 33 with Fairfield and Brickyard roads, according to police.
The final leg of the bypass between Halls Mill Road, Freehold Township, and a point just east of Fairfield Road was opened earlier this year. The project, which was designed in 1969, cost $32 million to build.
Patrolman Matthew Bishop, the Howell Police Department’s traffic safety officer, said, "Ever since the work there started, there have been problems with the Fairfield Road intersection."
Those "problems," Bishop said, have escalated to a recent estimate by the officer of "at least a dozen cars that we know of" driving into oncoming westbound traffic at the Fairfield Road-Brickyard Road intersection on old Route 33.
Bishop said motorists traveling eastbound on old Route 33 become confused at the Fairfield Road intersection due to the configuration of the road as well as the posted signs and road markings at the intersection.
Among the vehicles that found itself heading into oncoming traffic at the old Route 33-Fairfield Road intersection was an empty school bus.
He said the bus driver, who could be expected to be familiar with the area, was on Brickyard Road and wanted to turn left onto old Route 33. Instead of making that left turn under the bypass and heading on eastbound Route 33, the driver made a hard left turn into what is actually the westbound lane of Route 33 traffic.
Bishop said that incident was witnessed by a police officer. He said the driver told the officer she had been "confused" by the road markings.
"We’ve been lucky so far that no one’s had an actual crash," he said.
Bishop said when he conveyed the police department’s concerns to the DOT he was told there are already "Wrong Way" and "Do Not Enter" signs posted and that, "people will get used to it."
In a March 10 letter to the DOT, Bishop informed Richard Dunne, director of design services, that there was "obviously more going on at this intersection than just people needing to get used to it."
What may be the most serious instance of potential trouble at the intersection occurred on March 7. Bishop said a line of six cars traveling east on old Route 33 all proceeded from the light at Fairfield Road into the lane of oncoming westbound traffic, believing they were following the direct flow of eastbound traffic.
On March 8, police were back at the intersection to respond to another eastbound vehicle whose driver had entered the westbound lane. Bishop said the driver, after realizing he was proceeding the wrong way into oncoming traffic, ended up with his vehicle stuck in the mud following his attempt to swing the vehicle back around.
Bishop said while officers had stopped all westbound traffic as the driver’s vehicle was being towed from the mud another eastbound car went right by them. Bishop said the officers had to place themselves in danger in order to get the attention of the driver who was heading in the wrong direction.
The reconfigured alignment at old Route 33 and Fairfield Road requires eastbound drivers on old Route 33 to bear slightly right and drive under the Route 33 bypass in order to remain on Route 33 east.
If the drivers on old Route 33 east head exactly straight from the light at Fairfield Road, they are driving into the westbound lane of oncoming Route 33 traffic.
Bishop said when the problems at the Fairfield Road intersection started, Cpl. Joseph Fiore, the department’s motor vehicle accident investigator, parked at the intersection for a two-hour period during which time he observed three eastbound vehicles proceed from the traffic light into the oncoming lane of westbound traffic.
Bishop said when Fiore asked the drivers why they had directed their vehicle onto the wrong lane, he was told by all three that they had become "confused as to which way to go."
"There is obviously a flaw in the design if cars keep going the wrong way," said Bishop.
Bishop said he told DOT officials, "It’s understandable that new traffic plans need getting used to, but there’s obviously something wrong here, especially for people not familiar with the area."
Bishop said he was subsequently met at the site by William Kafer, the DOT’s project engineer for Monmouth County, and engineer Douglas Dillon. Bishop said both DOT representatives told him they agreed with him that oversized signs are needed on the road, as well as the installation of an oversized sign on the bypass overpass.
Bishop said he also requested that lines be painted on the road for all directions of travel that clearly delineate the correct flow of all traffic at the intersection.
On March 11, state representatives installed a message board at the Fairfield Road intersection that faces eastbound traffic on old Route 33. The sign flashes a "Keep Right" instruction to motorists.
Speaking with Greater Media Newspapers, Dillon said the installation of an oversized sign on the overpass would have to wait until the state takes over the project from the private contractor who built the Route 33 bypass. If the contractor installs the sign it will be more expensive than if the state does the work, he said.
Dillon said he did not know when the state will take over the project.
According to Bishop, there are other problems along the bypass that need the state’s attention in addition to the Fairfield Road intersection. These problems include the merge of eastbound bypass traffic with vehicles traveling east on old Route 33.
Bishop said the problem lies in the fact that the bypass traffic is up too high prior to the two roads coming together and there is no indication for motorists as to who must yield to whom.