Panel will assess need
for Allentown bypass
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN — Mayor Stuart Fierstein and Councilwoman Margaret Armenante will serve on a Monmouth County committee that will evaluate a planned westerly bypass to alleviate downtown traffic.
The bypass, which would connect Route 539 and Route 526, will allow traffic to skirt downtown Allentown. Borough officials have historically supported building the road as the solution to downtown traffic woes.
Also representing Allentown will be Wayne Smith and George Fallatt.
Upper Freehold Township and the Upper Freehold Regional School District also will have members on the committee, Fierstein said.
At a public hearing on the issue earlier this year, many Allentown residents voiced their support for the bypass plan, while Upper Freehold residents asked the county to reconsider the location of the road.
"I still believe it’s not a local issue," Fierstein said. "It’s a Monmouth, Mercer, Burlington issue."
He also said he was trying to reach Monmouth County Freeholder Ted Narozanick to see if he could get the state involved.
Fierstein said there was currently no forward movement on the bypass, and the county "was moving ahead on plans, with the plans subject to change if change is required."
Fierstein expressed concern that some in the community favor only a ramp to access I-195 off Sharon Station Road, raher than the bypass.
Fierstein said the engineering firm of Schoor DePalma found that 66 percent of turns are from High Street going south and Church Street going toward High Street.
"It bears out the original study," he said. "I can’t accept that an entrance on Sharon Station Road will have people not making turns on Church and High [Street]."
Councilman Michael Schumacher said that Carol Melnick, of the county traffic department, is working on a traffic study. Schumacher said that the eastern bypass, now under construction, may not open by Oct. 1 as planned.
Schumacher said signs should get started for this project, but it must be erected over the boundary in Mercer County to be effective.
Fierstein said the process may be complicated because I-195 is an interstate highway and the counties do not have contol over what happens with the road.