New Jersey DOT proposes safety plan for Route 55

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has submitted a four-point safety action plan to South Jersey legislators aimed at improving Route 55. The 40-mile highway, a major route for tourists traveling to Cumberland and Cape May counties, has seen a series of fatal accidents.

The proposed safety measures include:

• Deploying portable messaging signs to advise drivers to use caution. • Installing 75 new ‘Wrong Way’ signs at five specific interchanges (Exits 45, 48, 50, 53, and 56) and potentially at median U-turns in Millville and Vineland. • Clearing trees and vegetation near problematic interchanges. • Adding permanent guardrails in key locations.

The plan follows a summer period involving four fatal crashes that resulted in five deaths. Notable incidents included a wrong-way collision with a tractor-trailer and a vehicle crossing a grass median to strike another car.