JACKSON — New Jersey Pine-lands Commission approval will be sought for improvements to a short stretch of Route 571 in the township.
According to Ocean County Engineer Ronald Lotrecchio, left-turn lanes will be added and a hill flattened along the road between Lakehurst Avenue and South Stump Tavern Road.
"We’ll be improving the sight distance at Lakehurst Avenue and improving three intersections," Lotrecchio said.
Left-turn lanes will be added southbound at Bowman Road and Lakehurst Avenue, and improvements will also be made at South Stump Tavern Road.
Lotrecchio said the county’s original plans were revised slightly following a recent public information session about the project in Jackson.
As originally designed, a new access road to South Stump Tavern Road would have been built behind the Minuteman convenience store on Route 571. The revision will leave the intersection in front of the business.
The county will apply for a permit for the work from the Pinelands Com-mission within 30 days. Work on the $80,000 project is expected to begin within two years, Lotrecchio said.
Construction crews will be on the job there until the summer of 2003, adding the left-turn lanes, improving intersections, widening the shoulder and adding a traffic signal to the more than two miles of county road, Lotrecchio said.
"We’ll have five lanes in all directions at the Route 571 and Route 547 intersection," Lotrecchio said.
"We’re making these improvements so this important road can meet the needs of our residents in the western portion of Ocean County," said county Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. "In Ocean County we are spending more than $25 million a year to make sure our 620 miles of roads are the safest and most modern in the state."