Two Ocean County Roads Rank in State's Deadliest Dozen for Pedestrians

Two Ocean County roads ranked in the dozen deadliest in the state for pedestrians in recent years, according to a report released this week by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit that examines roadway use in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

The report compiled data from 2007 to 2009, the most recent year that statistics on pedestrian deaths was available.

County Route 549, which begins as E. Water Street and then Hooper Avenue at its southern terminus in Toms River and continues as Brick Boulevard in Brick, was the deadliest example of such a road in Ocean County, report data shows.

A total of seven pedestrians were killed along the route from 2007 to 2009, and though there were no deaths in 2009, the road still ranked in the top five deadliest for pedestrians in the state. 

Route 9 was ranked as the second-most dangerous road for pedestrians in Ocean County, and tied Route 9 in Monmouth for the 11th deadliest stretch of road in the state. Five pedestrian deaths have occurred along the Route 9 in Ocean since 2007, with three in 2009.  

Together, the two roads accounted for 35 percent of the county's 37 recorded pedestrian deaths over the three-year period.

Both roads share features that make them particularly dangerous for pedestrians, said Steven Higashide, spokesman for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. They carry heavy volume and fast-moving traffic through suburban areas, and often lack pedestrian infrastructure like sidewalks, crosswalks, crossing signals and wide medians.

But they’re also often lined with retail shops, food stores, offices, banks and other businesses that attract people, the report says – including people who come on foot.

“Both [Routes] 549 and 9 have most of these characteristics in some places,” said Higashide. “That’s where you see the clusters.” 

Part of the problem is that many roads weren’t built with foot traffic in mind, and haven’t been updated to accommodate it, Higashide said. 

“The design for a lot of these roads dates back to the 1950s mindset where the focus is on moving cars, to the detriment of anyone else,” he said.

That’s changing in New Jersey. In 2009, the state enacted a “Complete Streets” policy, which requires anyone designing a new or updated road to consider the needs of not just vehicles but also pedestrians and bicyclists.

It’s a great step, said Higashide, but implementation can only happen with the funding of road projects, which has slowed with the economic downturn. 

In New Jersey and elsewhere, he said, “the demand for pedestrian improvement funding way outstrips the supply.” Individual municipalities tend to know best what their infrastructure needs are, he said, which is why the Tri-State Transportation Campaign has urged New Jersey officials to free up more local aid funding for projects. 

Often, all it takes to get the message across that pedestrian infrastructure is necessary is to encourage people to take a stroll, Higashide said.

“When you get engineers and town officials out there and they go to these roads and try and walk them, they get it right away,” he said.