Suggestion for intersection at SO Ave and Ridgewood

Driving down South Orange Ave from the west, on my way to the station parking lot in the morning, I never look forward to the uncomfortable merge that happens once you cross over Ridgewood to make the right onto Church Street. The lane on the right essentially merges into the left just as you need to make the right! Locals should know this, of course, but there always seems to be a panicked few that nudge their way up in that lane forcing the thru traffic—or those who know they will need to eventually be in the left lane—to stop and let them in. It's not particularly dangerous—but a source of frustration.
Could a right-turn-only lane at the Ridgewood intersection—and a little road paint—do the trick?

I love the photoshop work!

That said, NJ traffic graphics in general are horrendous. I'm not sure if that's what creates the horrible driving or if the traffic engineers know the driving is horrendous so they just don't bother suggesting the helpful graphics...

Hah, thanks. I agree about NJDOT graphics: terrible. How long does someone have to live here to understand the "delayed green light" intersection when there's no sign? (Prospect and MT. Pleasant Ave in WO). I didn't even know there was such a thing as a delayed green before I moved here.

Unfortunately I think you will still have the same issue, it will just happen up the hill on SO Ave.

TarheelsInNj said:
Unfortunately I think you will still have the same issue, it will just happen up the hill on SO Ave.

Tis the truth..

bmac said:
Hah, thanks. I agree about NJDOT graphics: terrible. How long does someone have to live here to understand the "delayed green light" intersection when there's no sign? (Prospect and MT. Pleasant Ave in WO). I didn't even know there was such a thing as a delayed green before I moved here.

The delayed green took me a couple of times to get, but now I actually really like it and think it is pretty effective on those intersections during high traffic times

bmac said:
The lane on the right essentially merges into the left just as you need to make the right! Locals should know this, of course, but there always seems to be a panicked few that nudge their way up in that lane forcing the thru traffic—or those who know they will need to eventually be in the left lane—to stop and let them in. It's not particularly dangerous—but a source of frustration.

What do you have against alternate merge? No one "forces" you to let them in, it is the lawful, normal way to merge two lanes. Better from a dead stop than careening down the hill at 40+ mph. It is also a traffic calming measure for the high-pedestrian traffic area between Ridgewood and Valley.

If it is very inconvenient for you, perhaps just make a right on Ridgewood, a left on Third and another left onto Church. That way you can avoid the merge.

I agree this intersection should be better managed, I've seen too many cars aggressively fight to merge ahead of other drivers in a small contained space in town.

BubbaTerp said:
I agree this intersection should be better managed, I've seen too many cars aggressively fight to merge ahead of other drivers in a small contained space in town.

I have seen many drivers agressively try to prevent others from merging ahead of them, too.

What we have here is a failure of common courtesy, not highway management.

I respectfully disagree. There is a similar, but different problem on Valley at the intersection with Millburn Ave. Perhaps over time one gets used to these things, but in the Midwest where I'm from, they have dedicated lanes for dedicated things, and there aren't merges occurring immediately at an intersection. That said, the midwest condition does not prevent accidents from occurring, but it is clear who has the right of way.

max_weisenfeld said:

BubbaTerp said:
I agree this intersection should be better managed, I've seen too many cars aggressively fight to merge ahead of other drivers in a small contained space in town.

I have seen many drivers agressively try to prevent others from merging ahead of them, too.
What we have here is a failure of common courtesy, not highway management.

max_weisenfeld said:

BubbaTerp said:
I agree this intersection should be better managed, I've seen too many cars aggressively fight to merge ahead of other drivers in a small contained space in town.

I have seen many drivers agressively try to prevent others from merging ahead of them, too.
What we have here is a failure of common courtesy, not highway management.

True... but I also feel there is a lack of signage that the merge is upcoming. I myself have been caught unaware a few times and have had to make a last-minute merge that makes me look like a jerk. If there's traffic, you can't necessarily see the road markings that indicate a lane is right-turn only.

I'm not speaking to this intersection specifically though