Princeton Avenue and Beaver Dam Road, Jan. 30, 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
The speed limit on a portion of Princeton Avenue could drop to 25 m.p.h., from its current 40 mph, if a Brick Township ordinance passes next week.
Princeton Avenue east of Beaver Dam Road is the stretch impacted. The entire corridor was the subject of two county traffic studies, after residents along the corridor requested it, officials said at the late May township council meeting.
The results of the study: the area east of Beaver Dam Road is conducive to a lower speed limit.
“The existing speed limit on Princeton Avenue, which is a county road, is 40 miles per hour,” Council Vice President Art Halloran said the May 25 meeting. “The data collected from the speed survey indicates that the 85th percentile speed ranges from 44 to 46 miles per hour to the west of Beaver Dam Road, and 22 to 23 miles per hour to the east of Beaver Dam Road.”
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This means “the collected data supports lowering the speed limit to the east of Beaver Dam Road to 25 miles per hour,” he added. Though residents were seeking a speed reduction to the west of Beaver Dam, the study concluded that this area is “ineligible” to reduce the speed limit. So, that portion will remain 40 mph.
The portion of Princeton Avenue that would see the speed limit change is a small part of the road’s length.
While the entire distance of Princeton Avenue from Route 70 to the Metedeconk easternmost end is approximately 3.5 miles long, the area from Beaver Dam Road to easternmost Princeton Avenue’s dead end is just about a third of a mile. North and South drives fork from the residential area that would see a speed limit drop. The drive down Princeton Avenue from end to end though is a mix of residential, recreational in the popular Windward Park, and the drive is also peppered with marinas and some restaurants.
The ordinance was the only one introduced at the May 25 meeting. Council will vote on the issue June 9.
Additionally, the May 25 meeting saw the council embrace a resolution naming Patrolman Joe Riccio as the township police department’s Patrolman Kris DeMarco Office of the Year. Riccio was commended for his work on the evening shift, on the Street Crimes Unit and SERT Team for the township. Riccio has has worked for the township police since 2017.
The Brick Police Benevolent Association awarded its Lt. Thomas McNelis Award to Sergeant Larry Petrola. He has worked for the township police since 2002 and was promoted to sergeant in 2012. As a supervisor to the Street Crimes Unit in 2020, Petrola was tasked with “addressing drug activity, quality of life issues and gang activity,” according to a resolution before the township council.
The next council meeting is June 9, due to the primary election being held June 8.
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