Seniors Seek Solutions At Busy, Dangerous Holiday City Intersection
BERKELEY, NJ — Since 2024 started, six accidents have occurred at the intersection of Jamaica Boulevard and Bimini Drive in Holiday City. Fresh off the heels of one accident, residents are urging local officials to do something to fix this.
Residents of the Berkeley senior community went to a recent township council meeting to demand changes.
It was this past July when one crash sent a car flying into the front lawn of a Bimini Drive home. Now, the man who lives there said his wife wants them to move because of the danger.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I don’t want to move,” he said, but people don’t stop at the stop sign there, and he wants police to do something about that.
Of the six accidents at that intersection in 2024, four were because of people running the stop sign, according to Berkeley Police Chief Kevin Santucci. There used to be a blinking stop sign there – but it was taken down during a previous accident.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Santucci said that they’re working to hopefully replace that sign with a bigger one, but residents say that won’t be enough. Some called for speed bumps to be installed, while others said traffic lights were needed.
A speed study was done at the intersection from July 9 to Aug. 31 after the crash. There were 185,000 vehicles that traveled – and the average speed was 25.47 miles per hour, Santucci said. The max speed was 67 mph and the lowest was 15, he said.
“I’m not saying people don’t speed on the roadway,” Santucci said. “People speed on my roadway as well.”
He said solutions need to be a “multifaceted approach.”
“I think it’s signage, I think it’s education and I think it’s enforcement,” Santucci said. He had already met with his traffic unit earlier that day to discuss potential solutions.
He also noted some potential difficulties in implementing solutions. While many requested speed bumps, Santucci said they can be costly and are meant for roads less trafficked that Bimini and Jamaica. Additionally, they can cause problems for emergency responders and snow plows.
Santucci added that in a lot of cases, the accident is caused by “people that shouldn’t be driving.” In a recent accident, the driver was drunk and driving a stolen car, Santucci said.
“I understand that it’s very serious. I wouldn’t want somebody driving on my lawn either. I wouldn’t want to have to move because of that,” Santucci said. “I agree with you guys 100 percent. I want to try to resolve it.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
Click Here: carlow gaa jerseys
