It’s that time of year. As traditional has long held, state officials arrived to switch many of the barrier island’s traffic lights to their off-season “blinking” mode now that a week has passed since the Columbus Day holiday weekend.
Lights along Route 35 have been switched to blink amber at most intersections, giving traffic on the highway the right-of-way and blinking red on side streets, requiring motorists to stop. A few signals do stay in their normal red-amber-green configuration year-round, including the busy President Avenue intersection in Lavallette and Washington Avenue in Lavallette, the site of borough hall and Lavallette Elementary School.
Speed limits have also risen on much of Route 35. The limit reaches its highest point in Brick Township, where the highway splits and the limit rises to 45 m.p.h. Some sections have been raised to 40 m.p.h., while others remain at 35 m.p.h. year-round.