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The stop signs will be placed at key intersections and were aimed at reducing crashes, the Egg Harbor Township Police Department said in a Facebook post on Thursday, Dec. 13. The new traffic patterns will go into effect by the end of the week of Monday, Dec. 16.
The new four-way stops will be at the intersections of Reega Avenue and Cates Road, West Jersey Avenue and Cates Road, and West Jersey Avenue and Ridge Avenue.
Police said there have been 164 crashes at the intersection since 2019 and half of the collisions resulted in injuries or deaths.
"The police department will be providing more notice as the time nears when the new traffic pattern will be in effect," Egg Harbor Township police said. "Message boards will be posted near these intersections for a few weeks starting on Friday, December 13th, and officers will monitor the new intersections for compliance once the new traffic pattern is in use."
The safety enhancements were planned after several serious incidents, including a two-vehicle rollover crash at West Jersey Avenue and Cates Road on Saturday, Dec. 7. Several people in the vehicles needed to be extricated and a child was treated at the scene, the Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company said in a Facebook post.
That intersection was also the scene of a crash that killed a recent Oakcrest High School graduate. Jeremiah Saint Surin, 19, of Mays Landing, died after his motorcycle struck a Ford Explorer on Saturday, June 1.
A GoFundMe page for the former track and field star with the Falcons raised more than $12,900 from at least 311 donations as of press time.
"Jeremiah loved everyone he came across, he always had a good vibe no matter what was going on around him," wrote Emily Gallagher, the memorial fundraiser's organizer. "When he was around the people he loved, he did nothing but laugh and make jokes. He was so hardworking and a gifted track runner, and loved working out as well."
The teen's mother filed a lawsuit in October against the Ford driver. The suit claimed the driver pulled out from a stop sign "without the proper clearance or right of way."
According to police records, the driver was cited for disregarding a stop sign/yield sign in the crash.
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