Recent changes to the intersection of Rumson Road and Bingham Avenue are expected to reduce accidents and increase sight lines. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
The first sign, added about two years ago on Bingham Avenue in Rumson to warn of a stop sign farther ahead, didn’t seem to get the point across to drivers heading south toward Rumson Road.
A second warning, saying there is a stop 1,000 feet ahead, didn’t quite do the trick, either.
“We were still getting accidents,” Mayor John Ekdahl said.
That intersection, he said, has seen the most accidents in town in the last five years.
With the recent completion of improvements made by Monmouth County, Ekdahl hopes the number of accidents will decrease. It’ll be a game of wait-and-see, though.
The county completed work at the intersection last month, adding curbing to the four corners and re-grading the intersection to a slightly higher level to give a clearer line of sight for drivers, borough Administrator Tom Rogers said.
“They’re going to go with that for a year or so and see if that cuts down on the accidents,” Ekdahl said.
The perpetual problem, Rogers said, has been for southbound drivers making a left off Bingham a portion of which is a county road onto Rumson Road, also a county road, toward Sea Bright. Reduced visibility made for a dangerous mix with oncoming traffic, Rogers said.
“It’s a little easier to see both ways now,” he said.
If not, and it’s determined the spot is still a problem, Rumson may have to take a look at an option it’s previously rejected: a traffic light.
The county had proposed a light at the intersection as a fix to traffic problems, but Ekdahl said the borough wanted to try out different options because a light would change the character of the area.
Rogers said accident reduction wasn’t the only reason for the improvements “it was an accumulation of a lot of things,” he said the new look at the intersection should make for all-around safer driving.
