Drivers to Get a Countdown Pedestrian Warning Signal at Avenel St. Intersection

Drivers who fear being tagged with a ticket for jumping the should rejoice. The NJ Department of Transportation are getting ready to rev up pedestrian crosswalk signs that will include the large amber countdown numbers enabling walkers to know how much time remains before the light changes.

The crosswalk signs also give a head's up to motorists that the light is going to change - and a way to gauge their driving so they don't run afoul of the .

"The new pedestrian signals will have both features.... - the "walking figure" for go and the "red hand" for stop as well as a numeric countdown for when the light is going to turn," said NJDOT spokesman Tim Greeley.

The new pedestrian countdown signals were scheduled to be installed at the , Greeley said, to replace the old fashioned 'stick figure and stop hand' signals that had been there before.

The new signals were "in the pipeline," Greeley said. "We hadn't gotten to it yet."

All that changed because of an accident on July 9 at that intersection that interfered with the operation of the pedestrian lights, said Captain Ray Hoppock.

DOT was on the scene to repair the damage from the accident, Greeley said.

"We intalled a new signal at that location. At that time, we moved the work order up and took care of it at the same time," he said. "It was finished on July 23."

The pedestrian lights were installed and 'bagged' because they had to be coordinated with the timing of the signal lights at the intersection. "That work is done differently," Greeley said.

He envisions that the timing of the lights with the pedestrian signals will be completed this week and the pedestrian signals activiated by the end of the month, providing safety for both pedestrians trying to cross the hazardous highway, and a warning to drivers who want to avoid getting a red light ticket.

The Avenel Street red light cameras are one of four intersection throughout the township to be so enabled. The Avenel Street camera was the in June when NJDOT told 21 municipalities to shut down their red light camera programs because the yellow light timing hadn't been properly certified.

Township residents and pedestrians who live in the area had called Woodbridge Patch last week, wondering why the pedestrian signals were covered. Mayor John McCormac did not return repeated phone calls for comment.

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