James Street has reopened to regular traffic ahead of schedule.
The road was closed since yesterday morning to enable Conrail to begin work on their rail crossing which is being done in connection to Ocean County’s plans for a traffic signal at the adjacent James Street and Williams Street intersection.
On April 21st, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners awarded a $732,313.13 contract to Earle Asphalt Company for a traffic signal and westbound left turning lane at this intersection.
According to the design plans, James Street westbound will be widened with a dedicated left turning lane. An eastbound right turning lane onto Williams is already under construction by the developer of the adjacent major subdivision. An eastbound right turning lane onto Railroad Avenue will also be installed. This new right turning lane is expected to discourage illegal left turns in and out of Railroad Avenue.
Sidewalk will be installed at the southeast quadrant of the intersection. No sidewalk will be installed along the north side of James, however a landing will be installed.
A county spokeswoman confirmed to LNN that there are no underground utility relocations required. This will hopefully speed things up once work begins, because a main hurdle that slows down road improvements are the underground utility relocations.
Once the project is complete, the traffic signal will be synced with the rail crossing. When the train comes by, the westbound left turning signal and the northbound right turning signals will remain on an extended green light.
As an added bonus, the existing RXR railroad markings which confuse drivers due to its proximity to the intersection, will be moved closer to the actual railroad crossing, past the intersection.
The intersection will be signed “no turns on red”. However, a right turning overlap signal will be installed to permit northbound right turns while the westbound left turning traffic has their green arrow.
A crosswalk will be painted across both James and Williams. Pedestrian signals will be installed. When pedestrian actuated, the signals will turn green. On Friday night and Shabbos, the signals will be cycled automatically.
The county is coordinating their work with Conrail who owns the adjacent rail crossing. As part of this intersection improvements project, Conrail will construct a pedestrian gate and new walking surface to improve pedestrian accomodation over their tracks.
Ocean County is not yet able to begin the main portion of this project as they are still awaiting NJDEP approval. There is no regulatory deadline for the required freshwater wetlands permit.
In the meantime though, Conrail has begun their portion of the work.
The walking surface was installed over the past two days. Additionally, new piping was installed under the road/tracks to improve storm water runoff management.
New stormwater piping work
