News
Township Approves Plan For Access Road Behind Lincroft Acme
By Ryan Fennell
MIDDLETOWN - Monmouth County officials have given Middletown Township the go-ahead to proceed with plans to create an access road behind the Acme supermarket off Middletown Lincroft Road.
The access road would replace the existing one-way road exiting the shopping center onto Middletown Lincroft Road.
However, the permission to proceed might come with a catch.
In a letter from the county informing the Township Committee that it can proceed with the access road, the county has also asked that the Township participate in a study of the Route 520 corridor that would examine the necessity and benefits of creating additional roundabouts similar to the one recently created at the entrance to Brookdale Community College.
Participation in the study would mean that Middletown Township contributes half of the cost, or $125,000.
Mayor Pamela Brightbill said that she is in favor of moving forward with the access road but would be strongly opposed to entering into an agreement with the county for another study of Route 520.
"I personally would be in favor of moving forward with the access road," Brightbill said. "I have reached out to county engineers who have said to me that it would absolutely help and change the traffic flow. As far as the county asking us to pay $125,000 for a study, I think I'd rather move forward with the access road. To do a study before the road is in is silly."
"With all the respect to the county," Brightbill added. "If they want to do another study then they should pay for the study themselves. We can do a lot of other things with $125,000."
Deputy Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said that contributing to the study might set a precedent that could have implications in the future.
"Given that it's a county road I think we'd set a precedent, and they'd ask us to chip in for every county study they have," Scharfenberger said.
Committeeman Sean Byrnes pointed out that the letter from the county was vague in its language about what percentage of the contribution was for the access road and how much would go toward the study for roundabouts on Route 520.
According to Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante, although a study was performed for the access road and the subsequent benefits to the traffic flow in the area, the access road has not been designed an engineering standpoint.
"In terms of breaking down the cost, would much of that cost be toward actual plans and specs for the access road as opposed to studying whether a roundabout would work or not?" Byrnes asked. "It just seems like a big number."
Byrnes requested that Mercantante follow up with the county and find out how much of the cost would go toward building the access road, and how much toward the roundabout study.
"At least let's get the real numbers so we know what we're voting on," Byrnes said.
