Egg Harbor Township Street has New Jersey’s Shortest Passing Zone
That middle yellow line on the two-way, two-lane street is solid....solid......solid.....solid.... then it breaks up, signaling you that it's OK to pass!
That pavement marking is the only way you know it's OK to go around the person in front of you.
But wait! it's done! Solid yellow line again!
Did you even have enough time to pass a car?
That is certainly the challenge on one pretty busy street located in Egg Harbor Township.
I noticed the other day that West Jersey Avenue in EHT has the shorted passing lane in the state of New Jersey. (Not officially, but, yeah, unofficially, as determined by, well, me.)
Even though this photo from Google Maps is a few years old, it's still accurate on the shortest passing lane in New Jersey: a passing lane that is only 5 broken yellow lines long!
I could have taken my own photo of the passing lane, but anyone who's ever traveled on that portion of West Jersey knows what it's like - especially during busy times! It's like a NASCAR track! Cars are flying down at various speeds, flying around cars as they wait to make a left-hand turn! (Yes, we need some traffic lights on West Jersey, please!)
Anyway, not a few hundred feet from the dangerous West Jersey/Ridge Avenue intersection sits this passing lane.
There are always accidents at this intersection. The guard rails on one corner of this intersection currently sit in a crumbled and twisted heap!
So, five broken yellow lines. That's not a very long area to accelerate and pass, is it? It might be 10 or 12 car lengths at most! How can anyone safely pass in this short amount of space, then be prepared to brake at the intersection ahead?
Here's another look at the passing area, looking in the other direction. LOOK OUT! The intersection is RIGHT THERE!
Have you ever passed another car in this area? Were you able to get back in the lane by the time the no-passing markings were upon you?