HOWELL TOWNSHIP – July 24, 2013
Howell Township Mayor William Gotto spearheaded a July 18th meeting with NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson, held in Senator Robert Singer’s Lakewood office regarding the Route 9 corridor that runs through Howell Township. This highway is heavily congested from I-195 to Aldrich Road, and the area experiences bumper to bumper traffic and gridlock for several hours on a daily basis, especially between 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm. In particular, the timing of the signal at the intersection of Route 9 and Aldrich Road does not appear to be effective in reducing traffic running north / south on the highway.
A consultant performed detailed technical analyses and simulation models for the peak hour of commuter traffic, which occur from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. This analysis determined the average vehicle delay along Route 9 was excessive and exceeded the normally acceptable levels of service for traffic operations. From this analysis, potential improvements to the roadway to relieve the traffic congestion are as follows:
• To improve traffic flow from I-195 to Aldrich Road, the conversion of the shoulder into a traffic lane running from I-195 to Aldrich Road should be considered. The opening of the shoulder to a third lane of traffic will increase the capacity of the roadway significantly, enabling higher volumes of traffic to progress through the intersections. The increased capacity will also help turning vehicles enter the highway more easily and help improve vehicles entering and exiting existing driveways along Route 9.
• Additional improvement to the existing congestion might be gained through the retiming and improvement of signal operation through the use of Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS). It was our understanding that such signalization timing was previously completed, however the results seem to indicate worsened conditions.
Commissioner Simpson, Mayor Gotto, Deputy Mayor Nicastro, and Senator Singer have committed to finding a solution to this issue. ##########