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Warm Weather Snarls Traffic At Highlands Bridge - Backups stretched down to Atlantic Highlands and far into Sandy Hook
By Ryan Fennell
HIGHLANDS - High temperatures and sunny skies last weekend gave many people the opportunity to spend time outdoors after many months of winter. But the summer-like weather may have also given area residents and visitors a preview of the traffic tieups that may occur along the Route 36 corridor as people try to access Sandy Hook and beaches along the ocean while the Highlands bridge construction project is under way.
In a letter to the editor of The Two River Times™, Jay Cosgrove, owner of Bahrs Landing in Highlands, wrote of his concern about lengthy traffic delays in the area, noting that there was a "long line of cars trying to exit from Sandy Hook" at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The traffic was not quite as far as the Fort but it was certainly far enough to really create a super inconvenience for the visitors that were here," Acting Superintendent at Sandy Hook David Avrin said. "Obviously this was an unexpectedly busy weekend so we were taken a little bit by surprise by the numbers of visitors that we had."
Avrin said that Sandy Hook has been working with the DOT on a plan that would expedite traffic in and out of the park but that the plan had not yet been put in place.
"We've been working with the New Jersey Department of Transportation on a plan that unfortunately wasn't to go into effect until May 1st," Avrin said. "I believe that this coming weekend we should see a vast improvement in the traffic circulation."
Avrin acknowledged that this summer season is going to have its share of traffic issues.
"This summer is not going to be an easy summer just because of the fact that the bridge is down to one lane in each direction for the entire summer," said Avrin. "We are trying to do the best we can to work with the DOT to work through whatever opportunities we have to move the traffic out of Sandy Hook and down the Route 36 corridor."
Avrin stressed that the protocols agreed upon by Sandy Hook and the NJDOT will be in place on May 1st.
"We're all keeping our fingers crossed hoping that this plan works well but it will be a vast improvement on what we saw last weekend," Avrin said.
According to Avrin, he was unaware of the emergency situation that took place on Sunday.
"That is a problem," Avrin said regarding the response time of the ambulance on Sunday. "Unfortunately that is going to continue to be a challenge for us to do emergency response even with the new system. We were able to deal with it fairly well last year. I don't expect the conditions to be worse than last year, hopefully they will be a little better."
Sea Bright Mayor Maria Fernandes, who was traveling to Atlantic Highlands at approximately 12 noon on Sunday, said that the traffic heading southbound on Highway 36 was backed up to First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands. According to Fernandes, traffic attempting to exit Sandy Hook was backed up the length of the peninsula to Fort Hancock. The traffic congestion over the weekend also has Highlands resident Maureen Kramer, who lives on Portland Road, highly concerned.
"For the people that live in Highlands, the only way to get off the hill or out of downtown is the highway," said Kramer. "The last two weekends, the traffic has been backed up. You figure it's not even Memorial Day yet."
According to Kramer, former DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri had addressed residents of Highlands during several community meetings about the various tools in place to assist them during the construction period.
The DOT assured residents that they would have electronic signs at various points along roadways informing travelers of the expected wait time to reach Sandy Hook. Webcams would also be in place in several locations and off-duty Highlands and Sea Bright police officers would be directing traffic on the Highlands Bridge.
According to Kramer, this past weekend the electric signs had been turned off; the Webcam on Portland Road that is supposed to face southbound traffic was turned to face Bay Avenue, and only one State police officer was directing traffic on the Sea Bright side of the Highlands Bridge.
"There (are) supposed to be signs on twenty-four-seven giving how long the wait is and (they) usually say three to five minutes. The sign (for southbound travelers on Highway 36) was turned off," Kramer said. "I guess it would look bad if it said two- and-a-half hours."
"Those two tools you would use that taxpayers paid a lot of money for, you couldn't use," she added.
Kramer said that she attempted to contact the DOT regarding her complaints but was given "the runaround" having been transferred to various departments before being told that someone would call her back.
Kramer also called the Governor's office but said that on her first attempt she was hung up on and on her second call she was told she would have to submit her complaint in writing.
Kramer was also concerned about information she received about Highlands and Sea Bright police officers not being paid by the DOT for directing traffic and other off-duty services regarding the Highlands Bridge.
Kramer said that she had been told by a credible source that police officers were not directing traffic last weekend because they were not being paid.
According to Sea Bright Councilman C. Read Murphy, the Sea Bright Police Department was not on the bridge this past weekend because of an issue involving the time frame in which the police were going to be paid.
Murphy said that the Sea Bright Police Department has agreed to the terms of payment by the contractor.
"There was a period of time when there were some administrative issues that had to be worked out and have been worked out," Highlands' Borough Administrator Bruce Hilling said. "The Highlands Police Department continues to work and continues to do off-duty jobs."
Hilling added that the DOT has been very cooperative with the borough in trying to implement what the borough has asked of them.
Adding to the hours-long traffic backups at Sandy Hook last weekend was a medical emergency that required Sea Bright First Aid to respond.
Murphy, also a member of the Sea Bright First Aid, responded to the call and said that it took 15 minutes to arrive on scene.
"Getting in (to Sandy Hook) was a nightmare and coming out, we had to come out in the oncoming traffic lane," Murphy said.
According to Murphy there will be a designated lane for emergency vehicles beginning on May 1st, but it wasn't available over the weekend.
Murphy added that the Highlands Fire Department is the primary responder for fire emergencies at Sandy Hook.
"There's just no way they are going to be able to get over that bridge, and we'll have to go," Murphy said. "The whole thing is just a total nightmare."
Fernandes and Sea Bright officials are attempting to find ways to let visitors know about alternate routes for those that want to come to Sea Bright rather than having to come across the Highlands Bridge.
Fernandes is interested in asking the DOT to place a sign on the Garden State Parkway that would direct traffic further south to exit 109 and subsequently down Route 520 to the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge. However, Councilmen Murphy and William Keeler argued that directing traffic to Route 520 would only back up traffic on the bridge into Rumson.
Fernandes also said the DOT could direct traffic even farther south to Exit 105 and travel along Highway 36 from the south towards Sea Bright but recognized that option would only add to traffic attempting to visit Monmouth Park.
"No matter which way you come there's going to be traffic," Fernandes said. "It's one of those really tough situations. Summer didn't even start yet. We're just going to have to deal with it. There's nothing we can do at this point."
"Everybody just needs to not get too agitated about it. It's going to be a way of life for this summer," Fernandes added.
According to the NJDOT a real time notification sign, informing drivers of the approximate travel time to Sandy Hook, located in Long Branch was malfunctioning over the weekend. The sign is being repaired and will be operating again soon.
The DOT also confirmed that the webcam located on Portland Road in Highlands was not working and will be fixed. According to the DOT the contractor on the Highlands bridge will check each webcam daily to make sure they are operational and pointing in the appropriate direction.
The DOT will be implementing a new traffic plan on May 1st that will direct all southbound traffic exiting Sandy Hook northbound over the Highlands Bridge and toward a U-turn at Bay Avenue on weekends. During the week, traffic attempting to continue southbound out of Sandy Hook will also be directed north over the bridge and directed toward a U-turn at Scenic Drive.
Changes to the traffic signal timing are expected to ease traffic according to the DOT.
The U.S. Coast Guard has agreed to limit Highlands Bridge openings to once per hour between noon and 7 p.m. on weekends and federal holidays beginning May 15 and ending September 15.
