The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1927-02-08
OPENING THE BOTTLE NECK.
philadelphia Record

|nO VI Inc IdluDOW, Win us
attendant pot of gold, has certainly
descended upon Southern New Jer-
ioy. Judging by the announcement
hat the highway commission of
mat State is to expend $500. 900
on the road system of the region.
Relief from congestion az the oft
quoted meek of the bottle" at
Westville, where three main arter-
les of traffic converge, is the prin-
eipal object in view. It is perhaps
the most important item OF the ITO
gram not only to residents of New
Jersey, but also to Pennsylvania
motorists who inundate the coun-
try on summer Sundays.
With increasing volume each
year traffic over the week-ends has
set heavily shoreward, and, although
a great proportion of it flows over
the White Horse pike directly to
Atlantic City, there is another
great division which runs south
ward through Camden, Gloucester
and Westville. There the routes
diyerge. There is Route II to
Pennsgrove, Wilmington and the
South, lately taken over as a State
highway; there is the Woodbury.
Bridgeton pike, leading to Cape
May and other Southern points
and there is the Delsea Drive, the
so-called back way to the seashore
which is in excellent condition fer
the most part and attracting thous
ands of cars. All goes well on the
outbound trip; but, when Sunday
dusk begins to fall the cars return
ing to the city pile up in long dou
BILE lines reaching for miles back
on three roads, all waiting to cross
Big Timber Creek bridge at West
| vile. Hence the bottle-neck appli
cation. Tall stories of the length
of time required to get from West
vile to Philadelphia are current
| all summer, one of the best con
| corning the motorist who turned
into the Kings Highway rather
than wait in line for hours. and
made his way to Trenton. From
there he is said to have journeyed
down on the other side. of the Del
aware and reached home before his
neighbors who stayed pat in the
bottle-neck at Westyille.
Remedial measures, to cost $500,
600, which promise relief from thi,
traffic tangle, include a second
| bridge over the Big Timber Greek
and two miles of new roadway be
tween Brooklawn and Westyille
| eliminating two dangerous grade
crossings. Agitation in favor oil
| these measures has been on foo;
for some time in Camden and
Gloucester counties, and the new
highway ON the west of the railroad
has been endorsed by various coun
| ty authorities. The present hope
| full results have not been attained
suddenly and Unexpectedly, but are
| the result of long and faithful plug
ging on the part of far-sighted peo
pie who carefully surveyed the sit
uation and pondered over its solu
ton. A hearing on the WeStyille
traliic-snarl problem was held by
the Commission last autumn, but
no definite decision was given out
until this past week. The neces
sity of doing something and doing
it at once to end the menace Of the
bottle neck has finally become ap
parent to the Commission, and theil
action is the fortunate result. Al
though Southern Jersey rejoices
that relief is in sight, there remains
the melancholy fact that nothing
can be done at once, and that th'
two-hour wait at Westyille may no
be written off the slate until al
least one more summer mas PASSED