Manchester Working Toward Route 70 Safety Improvements

The Manchester Township Council said that safety improvements are coming to Route 70, following years of serious and sometimes deadly crashes through the municipality.

Councilman Brendan Weiner said he has been working with the state Department of Transportation and they have given the township a commitment that installing rumble strips down the center line and on the shoulders of Route 70 is a high priority.

"They will try to work it into a capital plan and it could be as soon as this year," said Weiner during a regular meeting Monday. "The rumble strips decrease the risk of head-on collisions significantly."

The Federal Highway Administration reports that in head-on collisions, center-line rumble strips reduce injury crashes by 38 to 50 percent on rural two-lane roads. Their website also refers to the strips as "among the most cost-effective countermeasures available."

Weiner said the council originally sought for Route 70 to be dualized through the length of the township, with a concrete median installed, however he said that was turned down by the Department of Transportation (DOT).  

Weiner, along with Police Chief Brian Klimakowski, met with DOT officials, as well as Senator James Holzapfel and Assemblyman McGuckin a couple of months ago to discuss the options.  In addition to rumble strips, they hope to increase their public awareness campaign against texting and driving.

"People get distracted and swerve into the next lane," said Weiner.

There have been six fatal crashes with seven fatalities in Manchester Township since the beginning of the year.

Last year, the Township Council passed a resolution urging the NJDOT to evaluate Route 70 in Manchester to "determine a solution to alleviate traffic and address the often dangerous and fatal accidents" on the highway.

"The long, unlit, narrow, non-center median road is a major contributor to many of these accidents," said Patrolman Doug Higgins, Manchester Police Department's Traffic Safety Officer, in a press release last year. "Route 70 is one of the most dangerous roads in the state."

Weiner said the rumble strips would be installed the entire length of Route 70 from the Toms River line to the Pemberton line.

"Right now, we want to deter head-on collisions," said Weiner. "It seems to be gaining a little momentum."