A local legislator is calling for the use of state and federal resources to make Ocean County Route 539 safer for motorists.
On Aug. 4, state Assemblyman Ronald Dancer (R-Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Burlington) announced he was in talks with officials at the state Department of Transportation and the Department of Law and Public Safety to reduce the number of “fatalities, injuries and property damage” resulting from accidents along the county road.
According to Dancer, the effort to secure state and federal assistance will include his legislative district colleagues Assemblyman Robert Clifton and Sen. Sam Thompson (both R-Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Burlington).
“We will continue to communicate with and assist our county and local officials to obtain state resources for improved public highway safety on what has become one of the most dangerous and deadly highways in our county and legislative district,” said Dancer, of Plumsted.
Route 539 traverses 38 miles through eight municipalities in Ocean County. Over the years the road has been the location of a number of motor vehicle accidents.
On July 17, the Plumsted Township Police Department announced that a serious motor vehicle accident had occurred near the intersection of Route 539 and Hill Lane in Plumsted. The accident forced officials to close Route 539 from Millstream Road to Route 528.
In May, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office announced that a Beachwood man died of injuries he sustained in a head-on collision with a truck that was hauling a dump trailer. Officials said the accident occurred in Plumsted when the man’s 2012 Hyundai drifted into oncoming traffic. Following the accident, Route 539 was closed for several hours.
During an Aug. 5 Township Committee meeting, Plumsted Mayor Jack Trotta said he hopes the added attention being placed on the county road will make the thoroughfare safer for motorists.
“Route 539 has been a problem for the county for awhile,” Trotta said. “Hopefully this (added attention) will lower the number of accidents there.”
In light of the accidents that have occurred on the county road, Dancer said he recently spoke with Gary Poedubicky, the director of the Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
“I accentuated the importance of receiving traffic safety grant funding, especially for smaller law enforcement agencies with limited resources and personnel, such as Plumsted Township,” Dancer said.
Dancer said he suggested to Poedubicky that military police become involved in the matter since a portion of Route 539 is within the jurisdiction of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.