asks county freeholders
to review situation
Use of new road alters
neighborhood serenity
Freehold Twp. resident
asks county freeholders
to review situation
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — In a letter to the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, Adam Geist, a resident of East Freehold Road, said the quality of his life has deteriorated since the Kozloski Road extension was opened to traffic in August 2003.
The year-old extension runs from Kozloski Road’s former termination point at Route 537 to Route 79 at East Freehold Road.
Motorists who are heading north on Route 9 from south of Freehold Township can now bypass traffic backups on Route 9 at Route 524, Three Brooks Road, Schanck Road, Route 33, Schibanoff Lane and Pond Road by taking Halls Mill Road to Kozloski Road, riding the extension to East Freehold Road, and taking East Freehold Road to Route 9 at the Manalapan-Freehold Township border.
The anticipated use of the Kozloski Road extension as a Route 9 bypass was discussed by local officials for at least five years before the new stretch of Kozloski Road was built by Monmouth County.
In his letter to the freeholders, Geist wrote, "Nearly every morning for the past six years, I awoke to the soothing and comforting sounds of a cardinal’s chirp at the bird feeder, a Carolina wren singing to its mate, and the occasional cackle from the rooster next door."
He told the freeholders that the pastoral quality of his neighborhood was the reason he chose to buy a house in Monmouth County.
But all that has changed, Geist said.
"On the morning of July 2, I awoke to a much-altered and disturbing sound; an offensive and obnoxious sound. At 4:27 a.m., I was awakened by the turbo whine and raspy exhaust from a semi-tractor heading eastbound on East Freehold Road. This was followed by several more trucks discharging similar offensive sounds between 4:30-6 a.m."
Geist, who is vice chairman of the Freehold Neighborhood Alliance, said he could no longer ignore the reality that the once "bucolic, serene residential road" he had lived on for several years had turned into a highway.
He expressed concern that the current situation will take a turn for the worse when Halls Mill Road between Route 524 and Kozloski Road is straightened and widened, and when an overpass is built at the intersection of Kozloski Road and business Route 33. Both projects are on the drawing board and scheduled over the next few years.
Geist is proposing what he considers to be a reasonable solution — limiting vehicles traveling on East Freehold Road to two axles, with limited exceptions. He is encouraging the freeholders to work with Freehold Township officials to develop a plan and enact the necessary legislation to protect the quality of life for his neighborhood.
Freeholder Thomas Powers, who is the freeholder in charge of public works and engineering, said he had not seen Geist’s letter yet.
"I don’t know what we can do about it regarding the trucks. Unfortunately, the county population is increasing. If we had not put in the bypass and purchased the land years ago, a developer would have come in and then there would be hundreds of additional cars on the roads," he said.
Powers said he knows how Geist feels because he lives near a railroad and hears trucks all of the time going to supermarkets and stores.
"I can speak to the engineering department and they can look into it," he said.