A Daily Traffic Nightmare

For about a month it’s been an issue for anyone who dares to enter Red Bank from Middletown via W. Front Street at any point during the working day. A line of traffic assuredly awaits you, and wait times do, too, sometimes of up to half an hour stuck on the bridge over Swimming River.

Head this way any time after 4 p.m. and it’s not an issue, but for any time from around 8 a.m. to the late afternoon you’ll encounter gridlock, and it’s all thanks to the road work being done on Rector Place. Rector, though home to a residential neighborhood, serves as a traffic sieve, funneling off vehicles making their way both too and from Middletown. Now, it’s been cut off.

Another problem is that now drivers must encounter two traffic lights in Red Bank instead of one, forcing drivers to turn at the intersection where parking lots for the center and already see lots of action.

Then, of course, there’s the nearby rail station, which causes all kinds of traffic problems when NJ Transit trains run on through, but we digress.

An officer at the scene said the daily street shut down has been going on for about a month and though work is steady – you’ll likely see some kind of heavy machinery being used if you check it out today – there’s no official word about when the work will finally be completed.

The roadwork only adds to the headaches for those looking to escape Middletown via Red Bank or other adjacent towns. With the Oceanic Bridge closed for the foreseeable forever, drivers are forced to go all the way to Sandy Hook or along the already congested Route 35, or W. Front Street, but only if they’re looking to sit in traffic.

Take heed and plan ahead.