As a lifelong resident of Sayreville, I am appalled at the conditions for Sayreville residents at the Old Bridge park-and-ride.
As president of a Manhattan-based public relations firm, I regularly take the 139 commuter bus to Port Authority, New York City. I do not have regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours, and, therefore, I often get to the park-and-ride after 9 a.m. and return home well after 10 p.m. on many days.
Now, if you need to be in work by 8 a.m., I’m sure you’ll have no complaints with the parking situation. However, there are no spots after 8 a.m., and I’m forced to park well up the road near TGI Friday’s restaurant in an unlit, dirty parking area that wasn’t even plowed after the last snowstorm (cars were literally parked on the sidewalk after that storm) — not to mention that as a woman alone, I don’t feel particularly safe walking to that dark parking area late at night.
Prior to a recent snowstorm, I got to the station around 9:30 a.m. and saw no parking. Knowing that I’d be home late and it would be snowing, I decided to risk it and take one of the several empty spots in the Old Bridge permit lot. Oh, yes, that was a huge mistake. When I returned home around 9:30 p.m. that night, my car was gone — towed to the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge — and the station office was locked up tight.
I stood in the snow, alone for almost 45 minutes, until my husband was able to get away from work to pick me up.
Now, I realize that parking in the Old Bridge permit lot was wrong; however, there are always spots available after 9 a.m. And given the choice of my car being towed or having to walk through that dark parking lot alone, I chose the tow (although it cost me almost $200, between the towing fee and the ticket). Next time I’ll choose the scary parking lot.
Colleen Jezersek
Sayreville