Sometimes, design flaws, not age, are responsible for congestion and a high accident rate. The 309 Expressway in Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, has a 1950s design. The acceleration and deceleration lanes are short, forcing motorists to go from a full stop to highway speed in no time. There is no shoulder. PennDot, which resurfaced the entire highway last year, plans to rip it out and build a new one.
Population growth is a major factor in road hazards and congestion.
Interstate 295 south near the Route 42 interchange is heavily congested during rush hour. It's a major connection point for traffic heading east to Gloucester County and the Atlantic City Expressway, west into Philadelphia over the Walt Whitman Bridge, and south to Delaware. Other bottlenecks are where Route 55 and Route 42 merge in Bellmawr and Runnemede Boroughs and in Deptford Township, and the spot where I-295 merges with Route 42 in Bellmawr. At the Marlton Circle, facing Olga's Diner at the junction of Routes 70 and 73, a commuter can watch a traffic light change three or four times before moving, so heavy is the rush-hour traffic. The circle, built more than 50 years ago, was last upgraded in 1968 with traffic signals and a cut-through for Route 73 traffic.