Intersection Light to Change, Reduce Traffic
Township committee OKs plan to alter times on Bartley-Naughright intersection traffic signals.
The township will move forward with a plan to extend the time of the traffic lights at the intersection of Bartley and Naughright roads to reduce congestion at the major crossing.
The $1,850 project will allow the traffic signal to be adjusted to provide more time for vehicles heading south on Naughright Road to cross the intersection, or turn left, heading east, especially in the morning when many students are driving to West Morris Central High School located on Bartley Road.
Police Lt. Douglas Compton told the Township Committee Monday the current traffic signal provides the same amount of time–25 seconds–for traffic in all directions to pass through the intersection, no matter how long the lines of vehicles are.
He said Morris County and the state Department of Transportation need to approve the installation. Bartley road is a county road.
Resident Jina Ovessi originally raised the issue with police.
She said Monday that “between 7:10 and 7:30 a.m. the traffic is horrible. It backs up to Fairview (Avenue). It is a safety issue.”
Ovessi said that she drives her two sons to school each morning to allow them a little more time for breakfast before continuing her daily trip to Rockaway.
Committeeman David Kennedy said he finds himself stuck in that traffic “at 7:14 a.m.”
Both Bartley and Naughright roads are key commuter routes out of Long Valley. While both intersect Route 513, Bartley carries traffic northeast to Route 206 in Flanders, and Naughright carries traffic northwest to Route 46 in Mount Olive.
Compton said the alterations to be made at the intersection will be like that at the main Long Valley intersection of Route 513, East Mill and West Mill Roads and Schooley's Mountain Road.
Compton said that it would be possible to adjust the timing of the signals at Bartley-Naughright when school is not in session.
Ongoing struggles
In other business, there have been 2,000 power outages in the township since Christmas, Short said.
He said Jersey Central Power & Light Co. attributed the outages to the heavy tree trimming program underway, the lack of squirrel-proof boxes on certain lines, and water seepage into power boxes.
The township has requested that power company officials attend a future committee meeting to discuss the situation. Short said he, along with Vice Mayor Bill Roerhich, will attend a Feb. 1 meeting at the Roxbury Municipal Building being held by the state Bureau of Pubic Utilities to discuss the recent storms and power company response.
The meeting is being coordinated by Senator Anthony Bucco and Assemblyman Anthony Bucco, Short said.
JCP&L has also confirmed there will be a connection made between the Drakestown substation and the Chester substation before Jan. 31, Short said. The "four-year" heavy tree cutting is currently taking place along the Chester Substation line which includes Drakestown Road, Fairview Avenue, Coleman Road, Bartley Road, Furnace Road, North Four Bridges and other roads in that general area, Short said.
roger freiday
8:13 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A bigger and better project would be TURNING lane green arrows at rt 124, 513 and 517 ! It is death defying to turn LEFT toward the Brewpub from Chester, or RIGHT to cross the bridge ! and while we are at it PAVE upper Fairview, that looks like the road to Moscow 1941.
Jennifer Simon
8:41 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I agree with you Roger. That intersection of Schooley's Mountain Road and 513 is a nightmare. I live on the mountain and the traffic frequently backs up all the way past the municipal building to my house. The paving on upper Fairview does also need to be addressed....as does the guardrail on Schooleys Mountain Road which is STILL anchored into nothing since the flash flooding months ago. Priorities, folks, priorities!!
J Hunkins
12:54 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I'm curious why our traffic lights do not swap to yellow/red-flashing during the overnight hours. For example the light at the top of Schooley's mountain road should flash yellow for the traffic on that road and flash red for Springton road between 10pm and 5am. It doesn't make sense to have to sit waiting for a light to change to green when there is almost no vehicles on the road.
roger freiday
1:23 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I have a pal who is a traffic engineer, I asked him once, long drawn out reasoning, but I will ask again, since I forgot what he said so long ago. BUT - ask the COP shop, and ask the Committee, why we don't do this ! It may be a way to increase revenue by motorists getting cranky at a 3 or 4 minute wait with NO CARS in sight, so therefore, you move, you lose. If ''right on red'' makes sense, BLINKING signals late at night make just as much.
JHolloway
2:37 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I disagree. Blinking yellow and red at stoplights that function normally during the day would be very dangerous, especially in the dark. It would also become dangerous during the day as people accustomed to the blinking signal would, by habit, fail to follow the signal.
J Hunkins
3:45 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
That apparently is the reason late night blinking lights are not used more prevalently -- you can't rely on people being intelligent enough to actually look at the light or understand what blinking means.
Some argue that the flashing lights at night actually increase safety because the flashing draws attention to the light. Flashing red both directions would mean always having to stop, avoids the long wait for green, and would reduce the risk since both drivers would have to be careless in order to collide.
I'd also advocate a normal traffic light sequence if it has sensors that actually work better to avoid stopping the one vehicle on the road or at least stop the driver very briefly if they are alone on the road.
roger freiday
3:27 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
???? like, you can't SEE BLINKING YELLOW or RED at night ? You must be drinking more than I do ! guffaw guffaw, or, you are pulling our collective legs. We are talking about LENGTHY waits at LATE NIGHT with little or NO traffic ! Lots of more ''enlightened'' states (no pun) do this regularly. It was this way for decades, so maybe it's just a cop shop ploy to engender traffic tickets late at night and check your breath.
roger freiday
3:54 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The folks that have trouble with yellow and red blinking lights, just MIGHT, have gone through Wash Twp schools ! But I like the ''red / red'' idea, simple, cheap, workable, as for sensors, costs MONEY so - - - in our town, since we have third world roads like Fairview and Drakestown, that never see paving, forget more sensors. Let's form a COMMITTEE to study it !
Angel
6:40 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I think you're all missing the most important thing stated in this article: $1,850 to adjust the timing on a traffic light?!?! Are you kidding me?!?!
Tracy Tobin
7:46 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Mr. Freiday
The County was asked to look at the idea of having a third lane at the 513, 517, Schooley's Mountain Rd, Fairmount Road Intersection. The County Traffic Engineers studied the intersection and determined that there was insufficient road width to meet the State DOT standards for traffic lanes and shoulders necessary for a turning lane.
roger freiday
7:56 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tracy, thanks for your reply, I AIN'T USED TO REPLIES (if you know what I mean) but the county, is lax in their outlook. We already HAVE the lanes, defacto ! So County ! Fix it ! If I was top cop I would be pushing for this, it is DAMN scary trying to make those left turns into oncoming traffic swinging around the line waiting to turn. In fact, pass this on to the cop shop if you would, just for fun. As to roads and traffic, have you ever traveled upper Fairview? The excuse for not making that awful piece of c--p passable was ''light traffic''- (chicken / egg) is it LIGHT traffic because it 's so AWFUL ? or now is it awful because there is light traffic? Hmmmmm
Tracy Tobin
8:36 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Roger
Top cops, especially Lt. Compton, are aware as they worked on/with the County re could an extra lane be added to the intersection. I go through the intersection fairly regularly and experience the same anxiety edging around a box truck or SUV that is waiting to turn onto Fairmount Road. I will try and answer comments on Patch when I think I can add light, not just heat, to resident comments and questions on various topics. Have a warm day.
roger freiday
8:40 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
All we can do is try, sometime things like this are shuffled off, until a major accident happens and then it gets attention.
LVMom
4:34 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Hello - I am the person who brought this traffic issue to the attention of the township. If you see an issue - bring it up (as I did over a year ago) - don't give up and you may be surprised with the outcome.