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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

A brief note to AP Council from someone who, as you know, is a strong supporter of [the Asbury Park City Council] and of the city of Asbury Park to urge you in the strongest possible terms to reject the proposed re-design of the Main Street corridor.

Removal of two lanes, while a well-intended idea with laudable goals, is simply unworkable and unsuitable for a city the size and scope of Asbury Park. We are not a village like Avon or Bradley Beach, we are a city.

These two roads are the lifelines for the city and its business district. The result of this plan will be massive traffic backups, with more and more people avoiding the downtown altogether.

All it takes with a one lane street is a small accident, a flat tire, to cause massive delays. Think of fire, police, ambulance, and other emergency services trying to reach people on a busy day navigating a one lane road through a city downtown!

There are other options to create a nicer, more pedestrian friendly streetscape; wider sidewalks, ‘bump outs’ at corners, landscaping, re-working traffic signals, etc. Turning a two lane street into a one lane road is like cutting off one artery to the heart and hoping the blood will keep flowing through the other.

The ultimate result will be a heart attack, and death to our downtown. Please don’t be pressured into an error that cannot be reversed and generations will forever regret. Many of us are counting on you for common sense projects that work, and to reject ill-conceived plans that are doomed to failure.

Sincerely,

Robb Levinsky

Interlaken

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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