Traffic signal upgrades due at Rt. 33 location
BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - Some relief is coming to the busy intersection where Route 33 meets Sweetmans Lane and Millhurst Road.

Route 33 meets Millhurst Road on the westbound side and Sweetmans Lane on the eastbound side. Route 33 is a state highway that is under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT).

Deputy Mayor Susan Cohen and Police Chief Stuart Brown met earlier this month with representatives of the DOT to discuss ongoing traffic problems at that intersection.

Cohen said a decision was reached to install a split-phase signal at the intersection. She said it is believed the splitphase signal will move traffic through the intersection at a much more efficient pace.

In the end, each road at the intersection will now have its own green light that will allow for the uninterrupted flow of traffic.

At the present time, motorists onMillhurst Road and Sweetmans Lane get a green light at the same time and enter the intersection simultaneously. The congested situation often leads to vehicles stopping in the intersection and waiting for oncoming traffic to cross Route 33 before a left turn can be made. That limits the number of left turns that can be made during a green light phase.

According to Cohen, when the splitphase signal is in place, motorists onMillhurst Road will get a green light while traffic on Route 33 and on Sweetmans Lane has a red light; motorists on Sweetmans Lane will get a green light while traffic on Route 33 and Millhurst Road has a red light; and motorists on Route 33 will get a green light while traffic onMillhurst Road and Sweetmans Lane has a red light.

"This (change) will allow safe right and left turns where allowed," she said.

Pedestrian crossings will be marked and a signal will flash the time a pedestrian has to safely cross a road.

Cohen said she has been assured that the design for the work at this intersection has been completed and that a work order has been given high priority by the DOT.

She praisedManalapan police and resident Michael Schwenk for working to make this project a priority.

Another improvement scheduled for the intersection of Route 33, Millhurst Road and Sweetmans Lane will be the installation of a piece of equipment atop the traffic signal that will allow the Manalapan Fire Company- which has its headquarters on Sweetmans Lane just south of the intersection - to be able to stop traffic when fire trucks need to travel through the intersection in response to a call.

A resolution allowing for the installation of the equipment was unanimously adopted by the Township Committee on May 14.

Another road project will see the restriping of Pease Road at its intersection with Gordons Corner Road.

At the May 14 meeting, Committeeman Richard Klauber suggested that when the road improvements being performed on Pease Road are completed and it is time to restripe the road, that the striping be done in a way that will designate a left turn lane on both sides of Pease Road.

Township Engineer Greg Valesi confirmed that one of the recommendations of the Gordons Corner Road traffic corridor study was to have left turn lanes on Pease Road properly designated.

"I wanted to meet with (the township administrator) and review the findings of the report before we cut it loose," he said.