Ocean County Ditches Plan for Oceanfront Traffic Circle in Seaside Heights

The Hiering Avenue parking lot. (Photo: Shorebeat)

It’s rare to hear a conversation about the northernmost street in Seaside Heights that doesn’t include a few words about “the bend.”

The rounded-off transition from Ocean Terrace to Hiering Avenue seems to be a magnet for reckless driving, residents have long contended, but the small amount of room has left officials with few ways to address it. There have been signs, stanchions with radars attached showing drivers’ speeds, and increased police patrols, but chipping away at the years-long problem has been something of a conundrum. The good news for residents is that Ocean County officials have prioritized improving traffic safety at “the bend,” and are researching several ways to accomplish it.

One solution that was informally floated in the past has been determined to be a no-go, said Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz.

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“We had our annual meeting with the county engineer about three weeks ago,” he said. “They had originally drafted a plan for that corner where you make the turn. The original plan was to, believe it or not, slow everybody down with a traffic circle.”

The idea has since been taken off the table, but problems at curved intersection, which falls under county jurisdiction, are on the minds of engineering staff. Vaz said before he could even bring up the issue at the meeting, county officials gave a presentation with a number of possible solutions.

“It’s hard to imagine a traffic circle there because we’re used to the bigger ones out in Lakehurst and on Route 70, but that was their original concept,” he said. “Last year at some point we discussed it in a caucus meeting, but at this meeting a few weeks ago, they said they pulled it off the table.”

The proposed location of a bathhouse in Seaside Heights, with the 1515 Ocean condominium building to the right. (Credit: Google Maps)

Some residents have asked that the speed limit be lowered, but it already sits at 25 m.p.h. A sign advises motorists to take the curve at 5 m.p.h., but that is not actionable when it comes to writing tickets.

“Maybe they could go into speed bumps, rumble strips, something that would help,” said one resident of the El Conquistador condominium building which sits along the “curve” and takes up most of the ocean block of Hiering Avenue. “One direction, off Ocean, is not the problem. People coming down Hiering to Ocean is another story.”

Vaz said the county is currently conducting a study of other cities – especially beach communities – that have similar turns from the oceanfront onto a residential, yet centrally-located, street. Resolving the issue is front-and-center. Some ideas, like the traffic circle, have already been eliminated.

“There’s definitely not going to be a traffic light,” said Vaz. “But it’s definitely on their radar, because it was certainly on their agenda when we went to the meeting.”