Freehold Twp. has plan for light at intersection
Proposals sought for signal at Three Brooks and Halls Mill roads
BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - Another local traffic hot spot is in line for a traffic signal.

Freehold Township is accepting bids from contractors who want the job of installing a temporary traffic signal at the intersection of Three Brooks and Halls Mill roads.

According to a legal notice Freehold Township officials placed in a daily newspaper, sealed proposals are being received by the township purchasing agent for the installation of the traffic signal. The bids will be opened and read in public at 11 a.m. Jan. 24.

The Township Committee will eventually have the option of awarding a contract for the work. According to the legal notice, the township has the right to reject any and all of the bids.

According to township engineer Joseph Mavuro, the installation of a temporary light at the intersection of Three Brooks and Halls Mill roads is a matter of safety. Mavuro said municipal officials examined the situation and determined that the high volume of traffic going through that location warrants action now.

"The decision was made to go with a temporary signal now rather than waiting several years until Halls Mill Road is realigned and a permanent signal is constructed at the intersection with Three Brooks Road," Mavuro said.

The temporary traffic signal could be in place by the spring if there are no problems with the bids and the awarding of a contract, according to the engineer.

The installation of a traffic light will help ease a situation that has become worse over the years as additional traffic heads down Three Brooks Road, away from Route 9 and toward Halls Mill Road.

Without a traffic light in place motorists turning left from Three Brooks Road onto Halls Mill Road sometimes have to wait a significant amount of time to make their turn due to an increase in the volume of traffic on Halls Mill Road. Traffic backs up on Three Brooks Road when that situation occurs.

The traffic light municipal officials are planning to install will stop the traffic on Halls Mill Road and facilitate the left turns from Three Brooks Road.

In related news, Mavuro provided updates on road improvement projects that are planned for Three Brooks Road and for Halls Mill Road.

A joint county-township project will replace the bridges on Three Brooks Road and widen and improve that street, which is a municipal road, according to the engineer. A final design is expected to be discussed by representatives of the county and the township in the near future, Mavuro said. There is no definite time frame as to when the work may occur.

In another project, federal funding will pay for a planned realignment of Halls Mill Road between the Route 33 bypass and Route 9 at the border of Freehold Township and Howell.

Mavuro said the realignment will basically follow the existing Halls Mill Road alignment and pass through the Rutgers University agricultural property at Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524).

At Elton-Adelphia Road, Halls Mill Road will line up with Edinburgh Drive. Traffic on Halls Mill Road will cross Elton-Adelphia Road at a traffic light and follow Edinburgh Road through the Adelphia Greens housing development and out to Route 9 to an existing traffic light at the border of Howell and Freehold Township, according to Mavuro.

The realigned Halls Mill Road/Edinburgh Drive thoroughfare will be a fourlane highway, he said, adding that project is still in the planning stages. Construction on that project could begin in two to three years, Mavuro said.