Accident-Heavy LBI Intersection Draws Scrutiny

If you live north of Route 72 on Long Beach Island, you likely consider it one of your least favorite obstacles on the road.

That traffic light at Barnegat Avenue and Route 72 in Ship Bottom, near the CVS store, is both difficult to see and quick to turn red. Drivers often cannot see what color the light is showing until they're nearly underneath it, and as NBC10 reported this week, drivers sometimes have as little as six seconds to drive from the Route 72 east intersection to the Route 72 west intersection on Barnegat Avenue before the light changes. That often leads drivers to speed up in order to make the light, and has made the intersection more accident-prone.

The television station reported this week that Ship Bottom officials are now working with the state Department of Transportation to improve the intersection.