Roundabout opens at entrance to Brookdale
Traffic-calming device unveiled after 5 years of talks
BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN - Roundabout a million dollars is the cost of the new traffic device outside Brookdale Community College.

Unveiled last Thursday, the roundabout was commissioned by the Monmouth County Board Freeholders in July 2006. At the time, the county board approved $1.27 million for the traffic-calming device, situated on Newman Springs Road/CR520 at the entrance of the twoyear college.

Now rapidly vanishing from highways, traffic circles in the Garden State have become infamous, often associated with feelings of dread and panic. So why build a new one now?

According to Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger, "The county engineers are very optimistic that it's going to help traffic."

Scharfenberger attended the official ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday morning.

"Aesthetically, it looks very nice," Scharfenberger said Tuesday. "It's the kind of thing that it's going to take some getting used to by people. Once they do get used to it, you'll see the effects."

Scharfenberger also recalled two recent accidents and subsequent three fatalities that have occurred along Route 520, necessitating the need for a traffic-calming device.

"It's a very treacherous stretch there," the mayor said.

"No question about it; something had to be done there.

"Once people get used to navigating through it, it'll be work out fine," Scharfenberger added.

According to County Engineer Joseph Ettore, any other device would have forced the county to widen Newman Springs Road, adding two left-turn lanes outside the college.

"The roundabout is much less disruptive to the surrounding landscape and still keeps traffic moving," Ettore said, according to a county press release.

Pressure from the Lincroft Village Green Association (LVGA) may have also had something to do with the county's choice to build a roundabout.

In 2002, the county proposed widening the lanes on Route 520. Later, the idea of a double jughandle was proposed. Residents of Route 520 and members of the LVGA spoke out against these ideas, arguing both measures would be detrimental to pedestrians and bicyclists. Eventually, the LVGA took matters into its own hands and hired Michael J. Wallwork, a Floridabased transportation engineer, to investigate alternative traffic designs. By 2004, the engineer had won over both the township and the county with his proposal to build a roundabout at the site. He then gave several presentations in 2004 and 2006, explaining to residents the benefits of a roundabout and calming fears about traffic circles. According to Wallwork, drivers typically slow down to about 15 or 20 mph inside a roundabout, a much lower speed than found in a circle. The slower speed, yield signs and a center island with a flagpole will all work together to create a safe and manageable driving experience, he explained.

On Tuesday, Scharfenberger said he was on the Zoning Board at the time, and "not really involved in the 2004 debate."

This is the first roundabout constructed on a county road in Monmouth County. Two ramps for right turns have been incorporated to accommodate heavy-traffic movements in and out of the college.

The installation of the roundabout is the result of a collaborative effort by Monmouth County, the township of Middletown, Brookdale Community College, the Lincroft Village Green Association and the Lincroft Bible Church.

The county asks that motorists remember the following guidelines when traveling through a roundabout: traffic within the roundabout moves counterclockwise and one way. When approaching, drivers need to slow down and yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Vehicles already in the roundabout have the right of way. Drivers should use their right-turn signal when exiting the roundabout.