JERSEY SHORE – Hundreds of residents of Lavallette and the Ortley Beach section of Toms River came out to express their negative view about a number of suggestions by the state concerning travel on Route 35, speed limits and back-in parking during two separate public hearings.
The first hearing was held at Lavallette Borough Hall and the second-floor meeting room was packed. The second meeting held later in the day at the Moose Club in Ortley Beach. The Ortley Beach Voters & Taxpayers Association had circulated a petition demanding the NJ Department of Transportation (NJDOT) “shelve immediately” the controversial proposal to modify Route 35.
Under the proposal, the NJDOT’s proposed changes would reconfigure Route 35 North and Route 35 South in Ortley Beach and Lavallette into two-lane roadways in each direction “to improve connectivity and reduce driver confusion.”
The Safety Improvement Project proposal also includes restriping parking spaces for required back-in diagonal parking and permanently reducing the speed limit to 25 mph year-round. Those ideas were strongly rejected by local officials like Lavallette Mayor Walter G. LaCicero who remarked that during “the summer months, when it’s bumper to bumper, how are you going to be able to back up into that traffic and get the spot?”
He also noted that Lavallette has designated bike lanes. Many residents present voiced their own ideas on how bike lanes could be safer, recommending better signage, increased law enforcement presence as well as marking the lanes.
“Paint all your bicycle lanes green,” was a suggestion by Lavallette Council President Anita Zalom during the hearing.
Last winter, the state performed a road safety audit on a portion of Route 35 on the barrier island and one of the suggestions to improve safety was to consider converting both the northbound and southbound corridors into two-way roadways to improve connectivity and reduce driver confusion.
The study did show an increase in crashes during summer months which LaCicero noted was “nothing unusual for a tourist-driven town,” He expressed that if the proposed changes to be implemented, “parking downtown would become a nightmare.”
He explained that a driver would have to determine if a car was backing out to provide a spot. He questioned how a driver would be able to do that that without backup lights. “You need to talk to the police officers who do these investigations. I was a police officer here for over 25 years. I literally investigated probably 200 accidents during that period of time.”
“The number one accident is the rear end and the number two is the side swipe but in reality, it is the left turn from the right lane. Many people stop suddenly especially on a two-lane highway. It is hard to see those pedestrians,” the mayor added.
Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-10th) asked the Lavallette audience “is anyone here in favor of two-way traffic on Route 35?” He went through the other proposed changes as well and got the same loud response of “no.”
“The room is packed because people are passionate about the top five issues and you mentioned earlier that if the community didn’t want it you wouldn’t do it. I think we could probably calm down the entire room if we went through them individually and you gave us feedback that you are not going to go forward,” he said.
Kanitra stated to the DOT that if any of the proposals were pushed further “we will all fight that tooth and nail to the end.”
The lead DOT representative responded that the message would be brought back and that their role was only to solicit feedback from the public. The Toms River Times spoke to a DOT representative at the conclusion of the Ortley Beach hearing who said that the proposal amounted to “suggestions” and that the agency was developing different plans and will not move forward without the support of local officials and residents. He acknowledged that the input from residents and officials at the hearings was a resounding “no.”
Lavallette resident Jim McDonald was the lone supporter of the back-in parking concept expressing that it had a safety value. “I was personally a victim of a car when I was riding my bike. You can not see backing out.” He cited that the North Jersey community of Hoboken has back-in parking but members of the borough audience disagreed and noted only the north end of that community had such a regulation.
Outside Borough Hall, residents who had attended the hearing were discussing the issue. “They really had nothing other than taking our feedback. We were under the impression that they had a plan in place. It seemed like our mayor couldn’t get answers. I just hope we have someone fighting for us to get answers,” Joan Victory of Brooklyn Avenue said.
Lavallette resident Valerie Mahoney was interested in what had been said inside. Like everyone else, she was not in favor of the changes suggested.
“It would impact the businesses; there would be a parking issue. The study that the state did was during the winter months when the town is quiet. I don’t even know why it is an idea on the table,” she said. “I heard it was for traffic safety to reduce accidents but this seems like the exact opposite would happen.”
The post Shore Residents Fight Route 35 Parking, Traffic Plan appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
