Crime & Safety

Enforcement Push Aims to Make Cross Keys Safer

Police from six different towns will take part in an initiative aiming to make Cross Keys Road safer for all motorists.

Township police officers will take part in a regional initiative aiming to make Cross Keys Road safer for motorists.

The enhanced enforcement effort will take place between the White Horse Pike and the Black Horse Pike, and will involve officers from Berlin and Pine Hill boroughs and Gloucester, Monroe, Washington, and Winslow townships.

The Cross Keys Road Joint Safe Passage Initiative began on Monday.

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Analysis showed there were a total of 792 car accidents on Cross Keys Road between the two pikes in 2009 and 2010, according to police.

In explaining the reasoning behind the initiative, police also pointed to a 2007 study by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission that indicated as many as 20,500 cars travel along Cross Keys Road between Sicklerville and Johnson roads, near the Atlantic City Expressway interchange, in a single 24-hour period.

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"I think it's just such a heavily traveled road and there's been so much growth at that end of the town, I think it would just make sense that we try to make it as safe as possible for residents and anyone traveling through that section of town," Gloucester Township Police Chief W. Harry Earle said of participating in the initiative.

In addition to stepped-up enforcement, the initiative will involve various forms of cooperation among the six police departments, including the sharing of traffic complaint information, traffic crash data and motor vehicle violation data.

Police will analyze accident reports not only to determine where increased enforcement is necessary, but also to find out what violations are causing accidents.

Police chiefs from the six departments have also committed to dedicating personnel and resources to specific enforcement periods during peak travel times along Cross Keys Road.

"People will know that all of the police departments are taking this seriously," Earle said.

Police officers working during the enforcement initiative will focus their efforts in their respective municipality along the Cross Keys Road, working from a unified mobile command post coordinating the campaign.

The first meeting of the Cross Keys Joint Safe Passage Initiative was held last Wednesday. Future meetings are being planned regarding Cross Keys Road and other multi-jurisdictional roadways in the area.


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