The U.S. state of New Jersey at one point had a total of 101 traffic circles, 44 of which were part of state roads. However, the number has shrunk as traffic circles have been phased out by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.[1][2] In the 1920s and 1930s, New Jersey felt that traffic circles were an efficient way for moving traffic through three or more intersecting roads.[1] Built in 1925, the first traffic circle in New Jersey was the Airport Circle in Pennsauken.[3] Many of these interchanges are rotaries in design, as opposed to the more successful modern roundabout.
Marlton Circle before retrofit project to form a grade separated interchange
As suburban and rural populations grew New Jersey's traffic circles became outdated. The increased number of drivers on the roads resulted in traffic circles being more likely to hinder traffic than help it. Increased number of vehicles and faster traffic speeds made traffic circles more dangerous and accidents common.[1] Many traffic circles became notorious for having frequent accidents and being confusing, especially for non-locals.[4][5] Starting around the 1970s, the New Jersey Department of Transportation began phasing out traffic circles.[6] Common methods of eliminating traffic circles are building a road through the circle, adding traffic lights, and the use of grade separation.[7]
Modified traffic circles are intersections where parts or all of the original circle still exist as a major part of the intersection.
Entrance to the Atlantic City International Airport. In 2011, the circle was revised to allow Delilah Road motorists to pass straight through the circle, plus the addition of traffic signals.[8] Direct connection ramps are proposed to help funnel traffic to and from the airport.
Originally built to connect the Edgar Plank Road with Elizabeth's Spring Street (via a modified Carlton Street between Edgar Road and the circle and a brand-new highway between Spring Street and the circle), both of which are now part of US 1/9.
One of the newer traffic circles in the state. Built in the early-mid 2000s as a traffic calming solution at a former three-way intersection, and also as part of a realignment of the same intersection.
Site of the Camp Merritt Memorial Monument, an obelisk standing 66 feet (20 m) that marks the 578 victims of an influenza outbreak at Camp Merritt, which was used an embarkation point for soldiers heading to Europe during World War I.[14]
Built in 2009 at the entrance to Camden County College. 3 other traffic circles were built on college grounds, along with new service roads for improved safety and more accessibility to the college, near Route 42 and Route 168.[16]
^Africano, Lillian; Africano, Nina (2006). You Know You're in New Jersey When...: 101 Quintessential Places, People, Events, Customs, Lingo, and Eats of the Garden State. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot. p. 90. ISBN0-7627-3939-8.
^ abOzbay, Kaan; Bartin, Bekir; Rathi, Neha; List, George F.; Demers, Alixandra; Wojtowicz, Jeffrey (December 2008). Operational Improvements at Traffic Circles(PDF) (Report). New Jersey Department of Transportation. FHWA-NJ-2008-012.
^"NJDOT announces Route 73 traffic shift as part of Berlin Circle replacement" (Press release). New Jersey Department of Transportation. September 7, 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2024. The Berlin Circle replacement began in August 2005 and extends for more than two miles of Route 73. NJDOT is eliminating the existing traffic circle and replacing it with a signalized intersection. New ramps and side roads will be constructed to maintain all existing traffic movements. The entire project consists of roadway widening, reconstruction, drainage improvements and safety improvements for Route 73, Route 30, Berlin Cross Keys Road and Walker Avenue.
^"DiFrancesco and Weinstein Open Newly Reconfigured Interchange, Formerly Known as the Brielle Circle" (Press release). New Jersey Department of Transportation. May 17, 2001. Retrieved March 15, 2024. Transportation in Monmouth and Ocean counties was boosted significantly today when acting Governor Donald T. DiFrancesco and Transportation Commissioner James Weinstein today flipped a switch that initialized the traffic signal system and officially opened the newly reconfigured interchange of routes 34, 35 and 70 in Wall Township.... The new interchange, which eliminated the Brielle Circle, is part of a larger $23 million project to add a second travel lane to Route 70 in Brick, Ocean County. The widening project, extending 4.7 miles from Jack Martin Boulevard in Brick to the old Brielle Circle, is scheduled to finish by July.
^"Camp Merritt commemorated, 100 years later". Northern Valley Press. November 7, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2024. During the 1918 influenza epidemic, 578 people died while at the camp (558 enlisted men, four nurses and one civilian). Their names are inscribed on the 66-foot memorial that is situated at the traffic circle on Knickerbocker Road and Madison Avenue.
^"Clark Circle". Union County Bureau of Traffic Safety & Maintenance. October 8, 2007. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
