Sparta Police Chief Releases 4 Year Crash Data Study

SPARTA, NJ – The Sparta Police Department is undertaking a large study, aimed at improving the safety on the roads and throughout the township.  Sparta Police Chief Jeff McCarrick and several officers have completed the first phase of analyzing car crashes, producing a report of data that includes dates, times and locations of crashes from January 1, 2021 through June 14, 2024.

The report shows 2366 accidents in Sparta in that time frame:

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• 2021 – 640
• 2022 – 735
• 2023 – 668
• 2024 (six months) - 325

McCarrick said the Traffic Bureau and patrol officers will be evaluating the roadway areas and intersections that stand out as having a large number of crashes. They will be looking to see if recommendations can be made to improve the roadways, including signage, striping, improving sight lines.

"We know residents are concerned. They see the crashes. Hopefully people will also be more aware when they are driving in areas known to have more crashes," McCarrick said.

He noted Lafayette Road (a/k/a State Route 15) accounted for more than 13% of all the accidents.  That number has been increasing each year.

The study took several officers approximately a month to pull together.  The next phase of the initiative will be to examine the causes of the crashes by reviewing the incident reports, also with the intention of improving safety.

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Some highlights from the first phase of the study.

The first list is roadways in alphabetical order with more than 10 crashes over the four years.  The second list is intersections in alphabetical order with more than 10 crashes over the four years.

Roadways and the number of crashes over the 4-year period:

• Andover Road (a/k/a County Road 517) - 54
• Center Street (a/k/a driveway into Sparta Theater Center) - 26 (with half occurring in 2021)
• East Mountain Road - 14
• East Shore Trail (a/k/a/ County Road 613) – 44
• Glen Road – 86
• Green Road – 19
• Houses Corner Road - 16
• Houses Corner Road (a/k/a/ County Road 669) – 18
• Lafayette Road (a/k/a State Route 15) - 315
• Lafayette Road (a/k/a State Route 181) – 41
• Main Street (a/k/a County Road 517) – 56
• Main Street (a/k/a County Road 620) - 13
• Main Street (township portion) - 30
• North Church Road (a/k/a State Road 94) – 69
• North Village Boulevard – 18
• North Village parking lots – 67
• Route 15 Jefferson Town Line to the “end of the highway” (past the railroad tracks) 218
• Sawmill Road – 12 (three each year)
• Sparta Avenue (a/k/a State Road 181) – 53
• Sparta Avenue (a/k/a County Road 517) - 118
• Sparta Avenue (a/k/a County Road 616) – 68
• Sparta Junction (a/k/a County Road 517)- 63
• Stanhope Road (a/k/a County Road 605) – 64
• Station Road – 14
• Town Center Drive – 46
• West Mountain Road – 53
• West Shore Trail – 33
• White Deer Plaza (a/k/a County Road 613) – 25
• White Lake Road – 45
• Woodport Road (a/k/a State Road 181)- 132
• 70 West Mountain Road (a/k/a Sparta High School parking lot) – 51 (34 in the first two years)
• 105 North Church Road (a/k/a Sussex County Tech High School parking lot) – 1 4

Intersections and the number of crashes over the 4-year period:

• Lafayette Road (a/k/a State Road 15) / Houses Corner Road – 11
• Lafayette Road / North Village Boulevard – 23
• Lafayette Road / Sparta Junction (a/k/a County Road 517) – 19
• Main Street / Town Center Drive – 14
• North Church Road (a/k/a State Route 94) / Old Prospect School Road – 10
• North Church Road (a/k/a State Route 94) / White Lake Road – 11
• Sparta Avenue (a/k/a State Road 181) / Main Street – Pooles Corner – 10
• Sparta Avenue (a/k/a County Road 616) / Sussex Mills Road – 10
• Woodport Road (a/k/a State Road 181) / Blue Heron Road – 10
• Woodport Road / Winona Parkway – 12

McCarrick is part of a committee that has been formed at the county level to take a broad look at road safety. He said this report and the subsequent studies will help to inform the work the safety committee will be doing.

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