County officials say a traffic light at the intersection of Church Street and Main Street in Allentown would make the congestion worse.
By: Marisa Maldonado
ALLENTOWN This tiny borough is known as the town that people drive through on their way to the Jersey Shore. And with the start of summer officially here, more cars and trucks soon will be passing through by using Main Street.
This annual influx of traffic not to mention the usual rush-hour throng and buses that come through town at the end of school every day has county officials thinking about measures to help alleviate traffic congestion.
The traffic does have its benefits to the town. The temporary, shore-bound visitors to the borough do bring additional business to the community, said Karen Deets, president of the Allentown Business Community Association. Despite an increase of people buying coffee on their way to the shore, she said the traffic does take its toll on the town.
"I would like to see less wear and tear to the town, with all the traffic going through," Ms. Deets said. "Yet I want a nice business district to remain that people will find."
The county, which has jurisdiction over Main Street because it is designated as county road Route 539, investigated installing a traffic light at the busy intersection atMain Street and Church Street, also known as Route 526, in 1992, but found that making the change actually would worsen traffic.
But that same study did recommend construction of the Easterly and Westerly bypasses, two roads that would take away traffic from the borough. The Easterly Bypass, which connects routes 539 and 526 to the interchange at Interstate 195, was finished in 2003.
The as yet unrealized Westerly Bypass, which would run north of Route 539 to the intersection of York and New roads, has generated opposition from Upper Freehold officials and residents. Allentown officials, on the other hand, have supported the proposal.
County Engineer Joseph Ettore said use of the Easterly Bypass already has relieved traffic at the Main Street and Church Street intersection, especially with trucks. But more drivers could choose to use the new road, he said.
The county has started to place signs on Sharon Station Road, at Exit 8 off of I-195, and on routes 539 and 526 informing motorists about the Easterly Bypass.
"We certainly think the improved signage will help," Mr. Ettore said. "We’re actually quite happy with the volume it already has removed."
Ms. Deets said she supports construction of the bypasses as a way to alleviate traffic, but she hopes the county also puts up signs letting people know about the business district in the borough so stores there do not suffer from a drop in traffic.
"In general we do have too much traffic that just comes through, but in the future if that changes with bypasses and so forth … as a business owner, I don’t want to be off the map," she said.
The county will present a traffic report on the Easterly Bypass soon to Allentown and Upper Freehold officials, Mr. Ettore said.
Installing a traffic light at the intersection of Main Street and Route 526, or Waker Street, would be difficult, Mr. Ettore said, because the two roads do not line up directly. The intersection also is not wide enough to install the lanes that would be necessary for a light, he added.
"When we’ve run models of the scenario without the widening, we’ve seen a situation that is actually worse with respect to the amount of backups on both 539 and 526," Mr. Ettore said.
Installing a traffic light would have also required the approval of the state’s Historic Preservation Office because the town is classified as a historic district, Mr. Ettore said.