My aunt, who lives in Manalapan, has been caused numerous troubles by the road construction in her area. The construction starts at the junction of Route 527 and Oakland Mills Road and continues a mere 280 feet ahead to the corner of Route 527 and Sweetman’s Lane. The relatively small area has been undergoing repair since Sept. 27, 2009, and it does not seem as though it will be completed in the near future.
This forces my aunt to take a difficult route every day on her way to church. For one thing, the detour is nearly 3.5 miles longer than the original route. This means my aunt has to leave her house at least 10 minutes earlier.
On top of this, the detour consists of narrow streets. Route 527 is a truck route, so Route 527 being closed forces many trucks to travel on the narrow streets. This creates a safety hazard for other drivers.
Moreover, Route 527 has a speed limit of 50 mph. However, the detour into Oakland Mills Road has a speed limit of 35 mph, which creates extra traffic.
Clearly, the continuous road repair on part of Route 527 is causing several serious problems.
At the least, there should be a sign at the junction of Oakland Mills Road and Sweetman’s Lane for people driving from Tennent Road. This way, people unaware of the construction work will not waste time driving 3 miles down Sweetman’s Lane only to reach the road repair site, and have to turn around and drive another 3 miles back to the corner of Oakland Mills Road and Sweetman’s Lane.
Something needs to be done about the ongoing construction from the corner of Route 527 and Oakland Mills Road to the junction of Route 527 and Sweetman’s Lane.
Tiffany Perumpail
Marlboro