BERKELEY – Even quiet shore communities are not immune to speeding and traffic issues, as complaints were raised about Amherst Drive, which leads to lagoon properties in the neighborhood of Berkeley Shores.
Amherst Drive resident Bill Lin came to a recent Township Council meeting and said there was a lot of traffic and speeding on that road. Additionally, there’s been a lot of construction lately, and there are construction trailers left out often. Another problem he mentioned was ebikes speeding by.
Mayor John Bacchione said there are speed humps on that road designed to slow down drivers.
Lin said that some drivers will hug the curb so that only two of their wheels go up, negating the impact of the speed humps. Also, ebike riders treat them “like an obstacle course.”
There had been a speed monitor on the street set up by the police recently. This is one of those devices that tell you how fast you are going. Lin said that this acted as a deterrent while it was there, but he’d like more enforcement in the area.
Police Chief Kevin Santucci, who attends most of the Council meetings, said that sometimes those monitors are not just there to tell drivers how fast they are going. They are there to tell police how fast people have gone. They could have collected enough information to determine the next step in enforcement.
“Ebikes are a big issue right now throughout the state,” he said.
Township Planner James Oris, who also attends most meetings, happens to live on Amherst as well. He also said that the speeding is an issue, particularly emotorcycles that can hit higher speeds.
Chief Santucci said he would address the speeding and safety issues in that neighborhood.
In other safety news, Councilman Keith Buscio said he wanted to find out why “blue sky outages” were taking place.
This is when the power goes out – sometimes for three to five hours – even though there’s no storm or obvious reason behind them, he said.
These have also been happening in the Berkeley Shores area. Although this is a lagoon neighborhood, there are more full-time residents here than ever before.
With the veterans village coming to a nearby spot on Route 9, bringing 125 homes for vets, there will be even more demand for power and he wants to make sure the infrastructure can handle it.
Buscio said he wanted a representative from Jersey Central Power & Light to come and discuss why these are happening and what can be done about them.
