Ocean County Advances Plan for New Traffic Signal by two popular Shopping Centers

Ocean County officials are taking the next steps to bring a new redesigned traffic signal by two popular shopping centers on Hooper Avenue, to fruition.

“I am pleased that we are moving ahead with plans to authorize our County Engineer to advertise for this beneficial project,” said Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. “When this work is complete it will bring much needed relief to motorists accessing these plazas.”

Planned changes to the traffic signal and traffic pattern by the two popular shopping centers on Hooper Avenue, south of Indian Hill Road, will allow motorists to make left turns without having to access nearby U-turns.

“This change will provide full access to Hooper Avenue,” Vicari said. “The current traffic signals provide limited access to Hooper Avenue.

“The new traffic signal configuration will help motorists access both north and southbound Hooper Avenue and also will allow for the crossing of Hooper Avenue to the other shopping center,” Vicari said. “This is good for motorists and good for business.”

Vicari along with Freeholder Virginia E. Haines brought the request to look at the traffic signal in the area to Freeholder John P. Kelly, Director of Law and Public Safety, earlier this year.

Kelly, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Engineering Department, directed the department to investigate the traffic signal at the two shopping centers anchored by Target and Lowes on the east side and Michael’s and DSW on the west in order to provide full access to Hooper Avenue.

“The Engineering Department has already developed a conceptual improvement plan for the signal to allow left turns onto Hooper Avenue from the shopping centers on each side of Hooper Avenue,” Kelly said. “This is a heavily traveled area of the Hooper Avenue corridor. We believe this modification will have a positive outcome with traffic safety and accessibility.”

The shopping center on the east side of Hooper Avenue is called the Ocean Center and the west side shopping center is the Commons at Hooper.

While Dewberry Engineers Inc., Bloomfield, formalizes the conceptual signal layout, the County is poised to advertise for a contractor as soon as plans are completed.

“We want to move this project forward so it’s important we are ready to advertise as soon as plans have been completed,” Kelly said.

The County expects the design to be completed by the end of the year with work commencing by the spring of 2018.

Ocean County also has talked to the shopping center owners who are on-board with the changes.

“This should provide the shopping centers with better traffic flow making it easier for consumers to access the many stores located in both centers,” Vicari said. “Allowing access to both sides and both shopping centers should be beneficial to the businesses.”

In order to accommodate the new left turns from the shopping centers and the ability to cross Hooper Avenue in order to access the opposite shopping center, the median will be opened to accommodate the new traffic signal and configuration.

Currently motorists leaving the Ocean Center that want to go south on Hooper Avenue drive north to Indian Hill Road and then go south at the jughandle. Motorists leaving the Commons at Hooper shopping center need to proceed south to Bay Avenue to make the U-turn to access Hooper Avenue north.

“The new traffic light will allow motorists to leave the shopping centers and head in the direction they choose without having to make U-turns,” Haines said. “We are very pleased these changes will be made in the near future.”

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