City initiatives launched in response to bridge project
Roadwork aid and advisory committee formed
As work on the Sunset Avenue Bridge replacement project continues, two city initiatives have been launched.
In a unanimous decision the City Council voted to ask Monmouth County to help repair the detour route roadways.
Officials said added vehicular and newly routed commercial traffic along and around the Fourth Avenue corridor has taken its toll. Coupled with the effects from recent snow storms, the roadways have worsened since the project’s Jan. 28 start.
“The buses and trucks only result in making the road deteriorate faster,” Mayor John Moor said.
A petition asks the county to mill and pave Fourth Avenue from Ridge Avenue to Memorial Drive, Pine Street between Fourth and Sunset avenues, and Comstock Street from Fourth to Sunset avenues.
The Council also voted unanimously to create the ‘Sunset Avenue Bridge Traffic Safety Liaison Committee.’
The advisory committee will serve as an intermediary between city, state and county officials as well as NJ Transit and the state’s Department of Transportation.
“There are a lot of issues beyond traffic safety that are happening with the bridge,” committee chair Daniel Weiss said. “There are quality of life issues and parking issues.”
Weiss said the five-member committee is comprised of a former city dispatcher, a former detective in the county prosecutor’s office, a citizen’s patrol head, and a council member.
“Each of these people bring something to table,” Weiss said. “These are people with institutional knowledge.”
The bridge replacement project is expected to continue through to May 2016 and when completed will feature a wider, two-lane crossing complete with sidewalks over Deal Lake.
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