The Marlton Circle in Evesham is one of the next marked for modification. Several changes have been suggested by the department, including raising Route 73 over Route 70 to eliminate the intersection.
The Marlton Circle project has already cost the department $1 million in studies and designs. Construction and land acquisition could add $25 million, most of which would come from federal highway funds if the township decided on the overpass plan introduced at last week's Township Council meeting.
Nine circles once dotted Route 70 like knots on a rope. Six remain on the road, which stretches from Cherry Hill to the Manasquan River.
New Jersey at one point had 67 traffic circles. Most were in the southern part of the state, but they could be found in all 21 counties, according to the Department of Transportation.
Today, 37 circles remain, but most will be gone within several decades. The circle at Routes 1 and 130 in North Brunswick, Middlesex County, and the Brielle Circle in Monmouth County are the next marked for elimination.
Transportation officials say the circles, which during the 1920s and 1930s worked perfectly to control traffic, have become flooded with too many cars that travel too fast.
"Circles worked well for many years," said John Dourgarian, a Transportation Department spokesman. "But by the 1950s and '60s, our engineers were starting to see that they were becoming obsolete."
The circles are removed in favor of traffic lights or what is called grade separation, which raises one road over the other. Removal costs between $5 million and $12 million, according to the department, although about $30 million is being set aside for the removal of the Berlin Circle in Berlin Borough to cover high land costs.
While confusion was a natural result of traffic circles, so was the proliferation of entrepreneurs who built businesses around the heavily traveled intersections.
