The Worst Intersection in NJ is in Egg Harbor Township

Six days a week, I drive across Atlantic County to get to and from work. And six days a week, I get stuck in traffic at the most poorly designed intersection in the State of New Jersey.

Yes, I'm talking about the NAFEC or airport circle in Egg Harbor Township.

You know, where there used to be an old-fashioned traffic circle that kept vehicles moving because there were no red lights, and everything was fine for decades.

And then one day, someone decided to "make it better," and I've been sitting in traffic ever since.

November 29th, 2011 -- The Day They Made Everything Worse

That "one day" was November 29th, 2011. Almost 15 years ago. That was the day Atlantic County turned on the traffic lights at the circle. And as far as I can tell, not much has changed there. Certainly, not much has been done to make things better or more efficient.

• READ MORE: That New Black Horse Pike Sign in EHT is Facing the Wrong Way

I know this because as I head southbound on Tilton Road in the morning, I go past the airport, and just as you go over the hill, you get a full view of the dozens and dozens of cars sitting ahead of you at the red light.

From there, you can watch people drive on the wrong side of the road to get in the stubby left lane, people drive up the shoulder to make the right turn, and people blow through the red light because they've waited so long. This is what I see every single day.

And it's not just the red lights. It's the barrage of signs that you have to interpret very quickly to figure out where you want to go.

Downtown Atlantic City and Margate and the Black Horse Pike, use the first right; Atlantic City International Airport, the FAA Tech Center, and the NJ Air National Guard, keep right; Uptown Atlantic City and Route 30, another lane; Mays Landing and Williamstown, another turn. Not to mention the signs for the Atlantic City Expressway.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's dump practically every vehicle leaving the airport right into the circle -- but in a way that it blocks traffic already in the circle, causing the circle to back up. That's because the red light that you see from there isn't actually for you.

Is this the best we can do? After almost 15 years?

A Simple Fix That Nobody Has Tried Yet

I had an idea quite a while ago that might help all of us out -- route all of the airport and FAA Tech Center traffic through the aviation park. Have all of that traffic go in and out on Aviation Research Blvd., where it meets Delilah Road, away from the circle.

There's certainly enough land there to expand that road to two lanes in each direction, and it would showcase all of the cool stuff at the research park (I've lived here for decades and I can honestly say I didn't know what was back there until recently).

So now that the airport traffic has been removed from the circle, Delilah and Tilton could become a standard four-way intersection.

Not to mention, years ago, there was talk about directly connecting the airport and the Atlantic City Expressway (instead of all of that traffic going through the circle). Whatever happened to that idea?

Say what you want about Atlantic County itself -- and it is a very well-managed county with roads that are a heck of a lot better than other areas of South Jersey (Camden County, I'm lookin' at you), but some of our infrastructure (and common sense) is severely lacking these days.

Fix the damn circle.

Chris Coleman is a South Jersey native and has been a cornerstone of the Atlantic City radio market since 1998. He serves as Brand Manager for WPG Talk Radio 95.5 and afternoon on-air personality for Cat Country 107.3. A five-time President's Circle award winner and Townsquare Media's 2024 Content Creator of the Year, Chris covers news, events, and stories of interest across Southern New Jersey. Story tips: chris.coleman@townsquaremedia.com