Aberdeen Resident Expresses Church St. Safety Concerns

An Aberdeen resident shared her concerns about the safety of a windy section of Church Street with the upcoming cold weather during the public comment portion of the Aberdeen Township Council regular action meeting Tuesday night.

Allison Tucker-Freedman, who lives on the corner of Bailey Road and Church Street, asked the council if there was anything they could do in order to improve the section of Church Street that dips and winds between the Aberdeen Township Municipal Building and Broad Street in Matawan.

Recalling the that killed a 23-year-old nanny and a 6-month-old Holmdel boy and left a 2-year-old Holmdel boy in critical condition and the for construction on Church Street, Tucker-Freedman encouraged the council to take any action within their power. 

"That road is dangerous," said Tucker-Freedman. "And the perception on that road is very awkward so that when someone is coming up (toward Aberdeen), you think they are in your lane if you are going down (toward Matawan)."

Tucker-Freedman said she hopes that ultimately the road is redone. In the near future, however, she believes that signage or rumble strips would do more to alert drivers unfamiliar with the area of the curve and dip in the road.

Currently, there are multiple signs on Church Street in Aberdeen that are supposed to do that, including one that reads, "Sharp curve ahead" and another that depicts a car swerving and suggests the turn be taken at 20 mph.

"Even a memorial to those who have died there, to say to drivers, 'Hey, we mean it; this curve is dangerous,'" Tucker-Freedman said.

Councilwoman Margaret Montone was supportive of the idea of putting up additional signage or making a mandatory court appearance for those ticketed in the area. Deputy Mayor Vincent Vinci also suggested potentially putting a blinking sign or putting reflectors in the middle of the road as a guidance for drivers.

Whether or not to provide additional signage or to require a court appearance for moving violations can be decided within Aberdeen, however reflectors on the road would require coordination with the county as they own the section of the road that travels up toward Matawan.

Reconstructing that section of road would also require coordination with the county and would begin with a traffic study, according to the council's attorney. Even though many feel that one life lost is one life too many, if there are not statistically enough accidents over a specified period of time it is unlikely that a reconstruction project would be approved, the attorney explained.

No formal action was taken on this topic, as it was only introduced during the public comment portion of the meeting. However, Mayor Fred Tagliarini said that the township would begin examining their options to see what would prove most effective.