TOMS RIVER: Adams Avenue is a township-owned roadway that runs parallel to NJ 37 between the bridges and Vaughn. It is similar to a service road as seen in other states, but with a 30 MPH Speed Limit that nobody follows. As motorists use Adams as a shortcut, or back road to access business on Route 37, it has become heavily traveled. To further make the roadway more challenging to those not paying attention, there are three major intersections where traffic on Adams has to STOP for the cross streets. When driving along at a safe speed, these stop signs come up quick and make you pay attention. Nevertheless, there are frequent crashes along the roadway with most being at the key intersections of Fischer, Garfield, and Coolidge.

Ocean County Scanner News has obtained this exclusive footage of a resident’s surveillance camera catching a speeding SUV ignore the stop sign. This is from the condo complex on Coolidge @ Adams- and watch from the left as the black SUV continues straight across Coolidge without stopping for anything. Thankfully there was no cross traffic on Coolidge, but this scenario occurs all too often. Press PLAY below to watch the video, and continue reading after the short clip.

Watch from the left as vehicle doesn’t even stop at intersection

Below are three images taken this week showing the vantage point of westbound traffic on Adams approaching Coolidge. After the images are explained, a short recommendation to address this corner is offered.

Two painted white messages indicating a STOP AHEAD, with a bonus yellow faded warning sign
While a driver should be able to read the white paint- the stop sign is obstructed by the tree at this angle
The final intersection with the single stop sign, and skid marks from other incidents.
Approaching Coolidge from Adams eastbound brings motorists to a stop bar with a massively obstructed view of the left

As for the intersection of Coolidge @ Adams- there are a few immediate fixes that can be addressed. To begin, dual oversized stop signs with the white signs attached warning drivers that cross traffic DOES NOT STOP. NJ already uses this combination, and it could be a quick and economical fix for now. Also an overhead blinking red/yellow warning light would increase attention to the danger at this corner.

Next intersection will be Garfield @ Adams, behind the Wawa. The Wawa alone increases traffic here as the driveway to the convenience store is less than 10 feet away from the intersection. Add that with traffic coming off the green signal on Garfield from 37, and it is a race course to barrel down Garfield towards Windsor. Also at this corner is another visibility issue, which additional oversized STOP signs could help. While we are at it, tossing the white CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP signs could be an added benefit for the value. Finally, if we are out shopping- why not pop for a blinking light here too?

Trees offer a slightly obstructed view of vehicles approaching Adams from Garfield
The view looking right is pretty clear, but people constantly stream out of Wawa without looking

To end our tour of Adams Avenue, we end up at the big corner of Adams @ Fischer. With the recent opening of Quick Chek over three years ago, this corner as seen a spike in traffic. The design of this intersection isn’t awful- it just is tricky to navigate as you come out of Adams across Fischer. As a driver here, you need to constantly check the traffic on Fischer- and time your jaunt across when the signals are red. Additional stop signs and flashers aren’t necessarily needed here, but some increased police enforcement of the box blocking would be wonderful from TRPD.

While the intersection is not obstructed here- you have to navigate morons who block the box and create gridlock.
The white boxed area marked out is considered “The Box”- and has numerous signs warning drivers to NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION

There you have it OCSN family! A quick tour of the Adams Avenue speedway- and how these key intersections need to be improved. Ocean County Scanner News is currently working on the second part to this story, which is pulling data from TRPD. We will OPRA the police reports to show how often crashes occur at these intersections- and to what severity.

Stay Alert- Stay Alive!