Blinking Lights

I had an incident at the blinking light at Holly Street and Eastman Street.  I was driving on Holly form Orchard Street and the blinking light was amber.  I was entering the intersection when another driver started to enter the intersection from Eastman.  Neither of us were traveling fast, so we both stopped. After the other driver waved, I continued down Holly toward Alden Street. 

It’s tempting to say, “No harm, no foul,” but this is a situation that happens all too often.  Take the blinking light on North Union Avenue where Elizabeth Avenue becomes Linden Place.  David Nesi lives on North Union, a block away from the intersection.  He has called 9-1-1 at least 10 times in the past 15 years and 4 times in the last 18 months.   He’s not calling to report near misses.

Cranford also has blinking lights at the intersections of Orchard and Brookside Place and Brookside and Gallows Hill Road.  Blinking lights are used when intersections are deemed dangerous and stop signs alone don’t get the job done.    

After lives were lost in two separate accidents at the intersection of South Union Avenue and Lincoln Avenue, Cranford petitioned the State for permission to install a stoplight at this intersection.   The new stoplight will be in place by late April or early May.   In the interim, motorists on South Union see two stop signs as they approach the blinking light – one on each side of the street.  Additionally, the roadway on Lincoln has been painted differently.  The striping is meant as an attention grabber and vehicles tend to slow down.  

Intersections with blinking lights are dangerous and generate a disproportionate share of accidents – too many with serious personal injury.  Nesi thinks that drivers misunderstand blinking lights.  He says that after some drivers stop at a blinking red light they’ll look both ways, see a car coming toward them and assume the other car will stop at the intersection.  However, the driver bearing down on the intersection has an amber blinking light and doesn’t have to come to a full stop.  The motorist is obliged to slow down, and then proceed with caution, but that doesn’t always happen.

When I told Nesi that I thought the intersection at Elizabeth and North Union should have a stoplight he disagreed.  He offered two suggestions.  He said he’d consider rumble strips and was curious about how they were working in Westfield.  He also recommended having the blinking light blink red in both directions.  If these changes didn’t work, he’d support a traffic light.

After I spoke to Nesi, I stopped by the police department and talked with Lieutenant Joseph Van Bergen, Traffic Division Supervisor.  Van Bergen grew up in Cranford and is familiar with the streets and traffic flow patterns.  He addresses traffic issues knowledgably and with a confidence that suggests he’s studied these matters and is comfortable with the decisions that have been made - or are being made.

Van Bergen told me that every one of the intersections with blinking lights has been upgraded during the course of the last two or three years.  The signs are bigger and have a high intensity reflection that permits them to be better seen from a distance.  All of the signposts supporting blinking lights are made of reflective material.  The amber and red signals have been made brighter and the flashing pattern of the lights has been changed so that they’re better noticed.  Each intersection has been striped with high visibility paint.

Van Bergen also said that the traffic flow and accident history at each intersection is closely monitored.   Counters are used to establish volume and the primary direction of traffic flow.  This information is used to determine which street has the right of way, and how the intersection should be supported with signage.   For instance, the intersection at Brookside and Orchard has four stop signs, two on each on Brookside facing Orchard.  The intersection at North Union and Elizabeth/Linden has three stop signs, two facing drivers approaching North Union on Elizabeth and only one facing drivers approaching on Linden.  Finally, the intersection at Holly and Eastman only has two stop signs, both facing drivers on Eastman Street.  If you look closely at the support each blinking light receives, you can tell which are thought to be the most dangerous.
 
When I mentioned Nesi’s recommendations, Van Bergen told me that Westfield residents aren’t entirely pleased with the rumble strips.  He said that residents with bedrooms closest to the strips have complained about the unending noise.  He said rumble strips work best on highways (toll booths) or in industrial areas.   Van Bergen doesn’t favor blinking red lights in both directions at North Union and Elizabeth.  He talks about right of way and the integrity of the stop sign.  That is, if stop signs are overused their value is diminished.  He points out that the only four way stop in Cranford is at Miln Street and Eastman.  This was necessary because drivers on Eastman were speeding up to make the light at Eastman and North. 

In my conversation with Van Bergen I felt that he was open to suggestion, but wasn’t going to be a particularly easy sell.  I mentioned raking or bricking intersections and crosswalks.  Again, there’s a noise factor but the aesthetics are different and that alone slows traffic.  He didn’t seem to be opposed to this suggestion, but he certainly wasn’t an enthusiastic supporter.

Clearly the township has addressed safety concerns at the blinking lights.  Still, I believe what David Nesi is telling me.  I also believe that some motorists are unsure of the protocol when approaching blinking lights.   That’s why I believe that more can and should be done to make these intersections safer.  Sooner is better than later.