BERKELEY – Citizens called for a traffic light at the Jamaica Boulevard and Nostrand Drive intersection at the most recent Township Council meeting, addressing continuous reported accidents and safety concerns.
The Jamaica and Nostrand intersection in the Holiday City area of Berkeley has a history of accidents. Both streets wind through the senior development, and smaller streets empty onto them. Additionally, Nostrand turns into Bimini Drive, which leads to Route 37. Both roads are important arteries carrying a lot of traffic every day.
While there is a blinking stop sign, residents claim this is not enough to prevent the dangerous activity.
Ann Tritak-Elmiger, a Holiday City resident, said the blinking stop light was inefficient at making the intersection any safer after the numerous accidents she’s witnessed in the past few weeks.
“My neighbor just a few weeks ago was T-boned, ending up on the lawn of someone else,” she said. “My own sister was in an accident, nearly fatal. I was almost hit yesterday walking my dog by someone who ran the stop sign.”
As someone who lives near the intersection, Tritak-Elmiger demands the traffic light be installed to make the area safer for the community.
“I will do whatever is necessary to get that traffic light,” she said. “I want to prevent the deaths, so please tell me what I need to do, whom I have to speak with.”
Echoing Tritak-Elmiger’s concerns, Pauline Kearney, another Holiday City resident, supports the traffic light after she suffered an arm injury when she was in an accident in the Jamaica-Nostrand intersection.
“The car that I was driving in was totaled, and it was such a bad accident that the fire hydrant was knocked completely over. Fortunately, there wasn’t a fatality for either one of us,” Kearney said. “But I had to go to physical therapy for a long time. I couldn’t even feel my right arm for a very long time.”
After her accident, Kearney is dedicated to the installation of this traffic light because she does not want others to experience the pain she did. She believes that this traffic light is necessary to keep drivers aware at night and prevent the dangerous activity.
When police are stationed at the intersection, they act as a deterrent, but they can’t be there all the time.
“It’s wonderful when [police] are there, but when they’re not…an idiot switch goes on, and [drivers] go crazy,” said Kearney. “If there was a traffic light, they’d pay more attention.”
In order to have a traffic light installed, traffic studies are performed over a six month period to gain approval for construction, said Capt. Peter LaRocca. Every Township Council meeting has a high ranking officer attend to hear public concerns.
“The traffic study, you usually want to do it in peak season, you want to get the traffic accident records, which takes a minimum of six months,” he said. “And then after that, you get it approved for construction. You’re looking at two years before something’s actually built.”
While the council is in support of the traffic light, Mayor John Bacchione warns of the longevity of this process, “I’m all for it, but don’t be surprised if it takes a while.”
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