BERKELEY – A busy strip of Route 9 will have some changes in the coming years, but a lot of it has to do with what the State Department of Transportation will allow – and it’ll be on the state’s timeline.
Starting from the south, the town is applying to the state to get a traffic light at the intersection of Route 9 and Serpentine Drive. Sometimes, the DOT will refuse a light if it’s too close to other lights. There is one nearby where 9 intersects Central Parkway on one side and Butler Boulevard on the other.
Mayor Carmen Amato said that the intersection meets certain DOT requirements for a signal, regardless of how near it is to another.
Right now, Frederick Drive t-bones into a concrete barrier near a potential pad site at the ShopRite plaza. (Photo by Chris Lundy)
The town fought for years – and was ultimately successful – in getting a light at Frederick Drive despite it being close to other signals, he said.
This took years, and Berkeley doesn’t want to wait too long. They are pushing the DOT to do a traffic study as soon as possible and to make recommendations.
“It is a dangerous intersection because of the way it’s configured,” Amato said.
There’s not much of a sight line from one side of Serpentine to the other. Additionally, the two sides of Serpentine meet at different angles.
One way to fix the problem is to turn Serpentine, heading east, into a right-in, right-out road. In other words, if you’re heading south on 9, you would still be able to make a right at Serpentine. If you’re heading east on Serpentine, you could only make a right at 9 and go south.
If you need to go left on 9, you’d have to do it at Central Parkway, which has a fully operational traffic signal, Amato said.
There are no plans yet to change Serpentine on the other side of 9, heading west into the intersection.
Since Route 9 is a state highway, the DOT has final say. The town can’t legally make any changes on their own.
The entrance and exit to the ShopRite plaza might one day be right-in, right-out. (Photo by Chris Lundy)
Heading north, the town has wanted a traffic light at Hickory Lane for some time now, because the surrounding area has grown with many new homes over the years.
“We are anxiously awaiting this long awaited traffic signal,” Amato said.
The DOT sent a letter over the summer that they reviewed the intersection and determined that a traffic signal is warranted there, Township Engineer Ernest Peters said.
The state expects eight months to finalize the paperwork and design, then execute the work order, he said.
When a town requests a light like this, they are required to pay 25% of the cost. Berkeley has that money in a bond from the developer who built homes on Hickory so the township won’t wind up paying for the light, Peters said.
Further north, the next potential changes are at the ShopRite plaza. Frederick Drive was given the intersection years ago, after fatal crashes took place. There had been three fatalities since 2009. The township petitioned the DOT to build a traffic light there in 2012 and it was finally completed in August of 2018. Police said in reviewing crash data that in the first few years after it was installed, the light literally saved lives.
Bad visibility and heavy traffic make the intersection of Route 9 and Serpentine Drive dangerous. (Photo by Chris Lundy)
There’s a footprint of a former business close to the roadway. There’s potential for a standalone building at some point. There is just a barrier keeping drivers from entering the plaza at an unfinished curb cut there.
Peters said that the developer of the outparcel at that intersection would be responsible for any improvement to eventually make Frederick into a four-way intersection and the only way to access the plaza if you’re heading south on 9.
The two existing entrances would remain, but would both become right-in, right-out. If you are heading north, you would still be able to enter the plaza near Mavis Discount Tire. If you’re exiting the plaza, you’d still be able to go north at the ShopRite/McDonald’s site of the site.
However, both of these spots would be curbed so that you couldn’t make a left out of either of them. The only way to go left (or south) would be at the future Frederick improved signal.
There is no timeline for these projects.
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