My Least Favorite Intersection in Ocean County

As you've probably noticed by now, I love to complain about driving. I don't know what it is, maybe I do in fact have mild road rage, but few things get my blood pressure up like being annoyed in the car. That being said, we have some truly terrible intersections in Ocean County.

With that introduction, you may be expecting me to talk about somewhere that accidents happen often, bad sight lines, or even the feared traffic circles, but no this is a more or less normal intersection, but it drives me nuts on an almost daily basis.

I'm talking about Route 70 and Van Zile Road in Brick.

As you're coming down Van Zile Road towards 70, there are two lanes. The left lane is a straight and left turn lane, and the right lane is a straight and right turn lane. And this is where I start to get tense - if you want to turn right onto 70, obviously with clear traffic, it's perfectly legal to safely turn right on red. But...and this is a big but...if there's someone in front of you in the right lane who plans to go straight, you're stuck. And it just so happens that the light at the next intersection, Jack Martin Blvd, is timed such that if you have to wait for the green light on Van Zile, by the time you get to the next intersection, that light will be red.

I know, I know, it's such a little thing...but that one car who wants to go straight and decides to get in the right lane can mess up your whole momentum!

The worst part is, that one car can cause a long line of people who want to turn right to back up pretty far, often causing you to have to wait through two and sometimes even three cycles of the light.

I've even written to the Brick Mayor's office about this intersection, urging them to consider putting in a "Right Turn Only" lane. To their credit, they did respond but informed me that Route 70 is a county highway and therefore out of their jurisdiction.

So when it comes to driving in Ocean County, what intersections do you dread? Have you ever tried to do anything to fix it? Leave a comment below and join in on the conversation!