By S.T. As a resident of Lakewood for the last 25 years, I have witnessed the population explosion first hand. A drive across town took just a few minutes and I encountered very few traffic lights. The wait time by a stop sign was minimal-even at peak rush hours. Today, my driving experiences have dramatically changed.
A drive across town, especially at busy hours, can be very time consuming. I try to drive only down the streets that have traffic lights, as the waits by stop signs are very time consuming and irritating, which brings me to my point.
With the amount of traffic we have on an average day in Lakewood, stop signs should be replaced by traffic lights. People waiting by a stop sign for a significant amount of time will be very likely to lose patience and attempt a dangerous cross or turn. It is also more likely for a driver to overlook a stop sign- especially if he has just passed several streets with traffic lights- his eyes are adjusted to looking ahead- not to the sides. I do not make these statements as excuses- as drivers must be fully alert and aware when driving, however I strongly feel that each stop sign is a disaster waiting to happen.
The town should strongly consider replacing each stop sign with a traffic light to keep our residents safe, and the driving conditions more pleasant.
Thank you.
good idea, but remember it won’t happen too fast – that would cost the township a lot of money.
It’s a good idea only if YOU PAY FOR IT!!!!!. My taxes are high enough now. Installing traffic lights are very costly (and more so due to “prevailing wage”) to the town. And would this really work? How many accidents are there at Route 9 and Countyline Road? That intersection is controlled by lights. It would be cheaper for the town (less taxes) if the drivers were to OBEY THE LAWS.
While I agree with your point, changing the stop signs to traffic lights will not improve the attentiveness of the drivers. I bright red light might catch their attention more than a stop sign in some cases, but the root of the problem here is a lack of responsibility by drivers.
I think that they need 4 way stop signs there will be more stop and go but it will slow people down and save lives and help with people trying to cross like on princeton and 7 th martin luther and pine.
Hmmm…A traffic light would only help…if it was programmed correctly!!!..The traffic light by Central Ave and Route 9..with that new left turn..is lousy…I would replace that intersection with a stop sign or resort to walking !!!
25 years ago a drive across town meant from 1st street to 14th street. The amount of time it takes to drive that hasn’t changed much.
While I agree with your points about the problem the solution is not lights. County line and Hope has at least 1 accident a month and there is a light there.
More responsible driving, more education and not more tickets is the solution.
maybe some better planning by the township board, and less under the table payment deals- WOULD ALLEVIATE THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION & THE STRAIN ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
The town has exploded with secular neighborhoods in the past 5years. and more are in the works. soon lakewood, wont even contain any woods aside from the ocean county park. everything else will look like a brooklyn/staten island area.
i grew up in brooklyn where there is a lot worse driving but there are lights and that keeps things ok there is no money questions when there are lives at stake i cant even believe someone would say that also whoever can help change this ridiculous situation this is probably the craziest town to drive in
to #6 I never speed while driving through Manchester Township because I know that speeding will result in a expensive ticket; and 1 day wasted in the Manchester Municipal court ( and a very possible parking ticket for parking anywhere in the vicinity of the Manchester court house)
So aggressive police ticketing for aggressive drivers is certainly a deterrent. However ticketing should be targeted for high accident intersections and should be limited to 1 Ticket, Police sometimes get carried away and give multiple tickets (while justified it shows lack of sensitivity), often its to the poor person that truly cant afford even one ticket.
what i dont understand is why in the world was a light put up in sunset and james when the martin luther – pine area has a stop sign!
i dont know how this can continue! we pay tax dollars for a reason and they shud use it for the right reasons!
majority of accidents would be eliminated if cell phones were banned perhaps if every driver using a cell phone would get a hefty fine lthat it really hurts to pay it we might see an improvement in the driving habits in our town
we would also be generating nice income !!!!!!!!!!
I believe we should institute a mechanism whereby citizens would volunteer to give tickets to those who disobey the traffic laws, sort of like an LCSW for traffic tickets.
It would save the township the money of hiring more police officers and installing traffic lights, it would definitely improve safety on the roads, and it would give alot of bored people something to do with their lives.
A WIN-WIN
Good point #10 and #6 all of the driving time has got very bad all over town. I grew up in Lakewood and for 30 years watched this town go from good to bad and for the last 10 years go to horrible. Crime is up, police is down and traffic is awful!
Step #1….please explain to the average citizen of Lakewood what a Stop sign is!! 🙂
It really depends on the time of day you travel. If it is when Yeshiva starts or ends a seder or when schools start or end etc, there’s a lot more traffic. Sometimes you can travel quickly through town. I think if lights would be installed they should work with a sensor so you only have to stop for lights when necessary and not have to wait for nothing when no cars are coming.
Terrible idea. Lights slow everything down. Take Sunset & James as an example. There are many more. What you need, sir, is not more traffic lights, but an application for senior transportation.
I am also in Lakewood many years. I didn’t think 4 way stops would work but it looks great at 4th & Lex. I think that’s the way to go.
Another good approach that I’ve seen elsewhere is roundabouts. They keep traffic moving. You never sit waiting for no reason as you do at lights.
I think drivers should just obey the rules of the road no matter what !, as far as getting tickets for violations if you break the rules and get caught you deserve to be ticketed ! The whole idea is to make you think twice the next time you get behind the wheel
Most accidents happen at intersections with traffic light, check you statistics.
If all the lights were synchronized, traffic would flow smoothly. If drivers would stop holding their phones, put both hands on the steering wheel, watch where they’re going and keep their minds on their driving we’d all be safer. One more thing; SLOW DOWN! There’s no need to rush all the time. You may get where you’re going a few seconds later, but you’ll get there in one piece.
Tough to talk on the phone now with such narrow lanes on Rt. 9. Put the phones down!!!
I agree with everyone that says lights don’t matter. Take Central/Sunset intersection, there are just as many, if not more, accidents there in the past couple of yrs. Lights don’t help if people don’t obey traffics laws. I’m scared to death to send my teenage drivers out on the road. Newer drivers happen to more cautious even if they are less experienced.
Every single intersection in Lakewood that doesn’t have a light has a stop sign. Are you seriously proposing that every corner have a traffic light ?