By Mark Rosman
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN – New signs, pavement markings and road striping will be the initial steps taken by municipal officials in a bid to deal with motor vehicle issues that have been reported by residents to be occurring on Woodward Road.
James Winckowski, representing the township’s engineering firm, CME Associates, presented a report about conditions on Woodward Road to the Township Committee during its meeting on March 22.
Woodward Road runs between Sweetmans Lane and Route 33 and intersects, among other streets, Darlington Drive, Valley Road, Lamb Lane and Marigold Drive.
The report documents the results of a study that was recently conducted by CME Associates at the direction of municipal officials who were responding to concerns expressed by residents of the neighborhoods along Woodward Road.
The residents cited issues with speeding vehicles, motor vehicle accidents that have occurred on a curve that is about 400 feet north of Sweetmans Lane and the continued use of the road by vehicles in excess of 4 tons.
According to the report, a traffic count revealed an average daily traffic volume between 1,800 and 2,000 vehicles per day. Most of the vehicles are traveling between 31 and 38 mph. Portions of Woodward Road have a posted 25 mph speed limit and other portions of the road have a posted 35 mph speed limit.
The report documents four motor vehicle accidents on the curve near Sweetmans Lane between October 2013 and October 2015, and five accidents at the intersection of Woodward Road and Lamb Lane between November 2013 and June 2016.
The report suggests that as a means of reducing speed, municipal officials may want to consider installing physical traffic calming measures such as speed humps or speed tables (a speed table is longer than a speed hump).
CME Associates said there are issues associated with those measures, including the need for additional warning signs, a reduced response time for emergency vehicles, maintenance of the physical traffic calming device and noise produced by vehicles going over the barrier.
CME Associates is not recommending that Manalapan officials initially install physical traffic calming barriers on Woodward Road. The firm is recommending, and the committee accepted, the following:
• 15 mph advisory speed limit signs to be placed near the curve that has been the location of the accidents. The 15 mph speed limit will not be enforceable by police.
• Amend the township code to extend the 25 mph speed limit to Lamb Lane from Valley Road.
• Install “Slow 25 mph” pavement markings on Woodward Road in the northbound and southbound lanes 200 feet north of Sweetmans Lane and approximately 400 feet south of Darlington Drive.
• Restripe the double yellow pavement centerline between Sweetmans Lane and Route 33 at certain locations
• Install signs indicating all trucks over 4 tons are excluded from Woodward Road south of Route 33.
In other business at the March 22 meeting, committee members introduced an ordinance that if adopted, will permit pet shops in Manalapan to only sell dogs and cats that came to the store from an animal care facility or an animal rescue organization, according to Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin. Residents may comment on that ordinance during a public hearing tonight, April 5.