UPPER FREEHOLD – An underpass will be constructed under Route 537 to extend the Union Transportation Trail in Upper Freehold Township into neighboring Ocean County.
During a meeting on Nov. 21, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders passed a resolution authorizing an agreement with Ocean County for a joint project to conduct the overpass.
The Union Transportation Trail is a 9-mile multi-use trail through Upper Freehold Township that terminates before Route 537, which is Monmouth County’s border with Ocean County. The trail is used by equestrians, bicyclists, runners and hikers.
According to the resolution, an agreement dated Sept. 18, 1939 places shared responsibility for the maintenance of this portion of Route 537 on both counties.
The Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners has secured federal funding in the amount of $700,000 to construct an underpass under Route 537, according to the resolution.
The underpass, when completed, will provide connectivity of the trail between Monmouth and Ocean counties, specifically linking the Monmouth County portion to the proposed Ocean County/Plumsted Township Trail.
Monmouth County will serve as the lead agency responsible for constructing the underpass, according to the resolution.
The Union Transportation Trail was built along a former rail line and is the result of a long-term lease between the Monmouth County Park System and Jersey Central Power and Light that allowed the land to be developed for recreational use, according to Monmouth County officials.
The trail runs 9 miles through farmland and rural countryside and features an historic wood trestle bridge over Lahaway Creek.
Parking for the Union Transportation Trail is available at 70 Herbert Road, Upper Freehold; at 314 Route 539, Upper Freehold (use Upper Freehold municipal building parking lot); at 114 Jonathan Holmes Road, Upper Freehold; and at 8 Millstream Road, Upper Freehold.
For more information about the Union Transportation Trail or the Monmouth County Park System, visitwww.MonmouthCountyParks.com or call 732-842-4000.