about Rte. 520 widening plan
Public meeting
scheduled for June 6
at Brookdale C.C.
By elaine van develde
Staff Writer
It was designed to help, but a contingent of Lincroft residents thinks the recommendations that came with a county-solicited Route 520 study will hurt the community if not altered.
Those residents are known as the Lincroft Village Green Association, and they want the county to listen to what they have to say. They don’t like the county-inspired idea of widening Route 520 that was derived from the study, and they’re not going to accept it without a fight.
Formed about three years ago, the Village Green Association aims to preserve and restore Lincroft Village as a safe haven in which "residents can walk, kids can ride bikes, and an overall sense of community is shared by all," said Winnie Scuteri, the group’s vice president.
The study’s recommendation to "widen Route 520 to reduce crashes and delays for motorists at lights and improve levels of service at intersections," said Scuteri, was not palatable to the group.
As they see it, "making certain a motorist has no longer than a 35-second wait at a light does not increase quality of life, nor does widening the road," Scuteri added.
In fact, she said, the group sees widening 520 as a traffic nightmare waiting to happen, not to mention a major hit on their quality of life.
The group held a meeting at St. Leo the Great Church in Lincroft May 21 to update the public on the reports which have been out since August but were not available to the public until now, according to Scuteri.
When asked to indicate the worst problem with Route 520, residents said the main concern was excessive speed. Now residents fear widening the road to five lanes will produce the impression that it’s a highway, and people will drive like they’re on a highway.
Scuteri said where limits are posted as 35 to 40 mph, speeds usually exceed those levels, and where it specifies 25 mph in the presence of children, that is not usually adhered to either.
Scuteri said the report from the county, prepared by consulting firm Orth-Rodgers and Associates, provides a study of the road, its problems and recommendations of how to fix those problems.
"We’re worried that their idea of fixing problems will revolve around making driving easier and more convenient for the motorist and will toss aside the fact that there are excessive speeding problems on the road that need to be addressed," Scuteri noted.
"Seniors can’t walk safely, kids can’t ride bikes, workers riding bikes in the area take their lives in their hands. If the recommendations they suggest are put into effect (widening 520), there will undoubtedly be a negative effect on the quality of life here." She called to mind the recent pedestrian fatality in Holmdel where a young girl was killed crossing a five-lane road.
"In front of Lincroft School there is now one lane in each direction and a turn lane in front of school. That’s three lanes. With county recommendations it would be widened to five. It’s just not a good idea," Scuteri said. There is a glimmer of hope, she said, in that the county has scheduled a public meeting on the issue for 7:30 p.m. June 6 at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, in the Main Academic Complex (rooms MAN103 and MAN105).
"It’s encouraging that there will be a public meeting, hosted by the county, to give the public the access they need to these studies and recommendations," Scuteri asserted. "Public input is critical. We will have our own traffic expert available to provide testimony. It’s good that the county is now going to residents to assess what the problems in the area are. A consultant met with some residents who said speed on Route 520 was a problem. That meeting was included in the study, but not addressed."
It’s Scuteri and her group’s sentiment that listening to residents will yield more effective results. They hope to see strong representation of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders at the public forum to hear and listen to public input.