By Adrienne Fleming
In April the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders authorized the acquisition of the final pieces of real property required for the replacement of the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge over the Shrewsbury River. After months of negotiations, the purchase prices of the properties were finalized June 11. The county was able to certify its ability to acquire all necessary property for the bridge project just short of the drop-dead date of Aug. 1.
The $108 million project, funded almost exclusively from federal funding through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority trust fund, completed its Local Preliminary Engineering phase in 2017 and is currently in the Final Design phase. A Local Concept Development study completed in 2013 concluded that an improvement to the safety of the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge, built in 1950 and at the end of its useful life, was necessary to maintain safe crossing over the river and provide a better intersection to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists. The replacement bridge will be located just south of the current structure.
A block of land in Sea Bright to the southeast of the bridge, owned by John Regan, LLC and currently the site of a Dunkin Donuts and the gym Nxt Evolution, was acquired initially for $849,600. This includes a total acquisition of the whole of the property, not just the land required for the bridge, as well as the cost of relocating the two tenants. Statutorily, the county is required to provide financial assistance to the tenants to aid their necessary relocation. Key to the negotiation was the fact that the property is currently the site of an environmental cleanup, as it was formerly the site of a gas station.
In addition, a sliver of property was acquired on the Rumson side from husband and wife, Anthony W. Gennaro Jr. and Christina P. Gennaro, for an initial total purchase price of $14,600. This parcel comprises a few feet along the frontage of their waterfront property and will not affect their home or driveway.
Negotiations resulted in an increase of the purchase price for both the Regan and Gennaro properties in order to advance the project. The price of the Regan property was raised $440,400 for a total purchase price of $1.25 million. The Gennaro property price increased an additional $29,700 for a total purchase price of $44,300.
County counsel Michael D. Fitzgerald, in his briefing to the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, shared that the intention is to prevent the property on the Sea Bright side from falling into private hands again. Fifty years ago, when the bridge was moved to its current location, Rumson maintained the land where the bridge was previously located as a park, rather than selling the property. Therefore, there is no land acquisition cost on the Rumson side now that the bridge needs to be moved again. On the Sea Bright side, however, the land was sold privately, which makes relocating the bridge an issue of purchasing property from an individual.
Now, with planning and foresight in mind, the property on which the bridge is located currently will not be sold on either side, but maintained as county property so when the bridge needs to be replaced in 50 to 75 years, it can be done without the added cost of property acquisition.
Additional property was acquired from Holy Cross Church on Rumson Road along the right of way toward the bridge where Holy Cross Academy is located. Discussions regarding the value of the property as well as the cost of replacing trees and signs are ongoing. The acquisition was done through a “friendly condemnation.” Due to the mortgage on the church property, it was necessary to condemn the property in order for the bank to approve the church accepting less than $50,000. “Holy Cross Church, the Monsignor Father Manning, and business administrator Tom Dooley have been great neighbors,” said Fitzgerald. “They understand that this has to be done and they just want to do what’s best for the congregation.”
This year in particular, beach traffic at the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge has presented serious challenges as COVID-19 resulted in canceled summer travel plans and sent droves of sun-seekers to Monmouth County’s shores. These property deals benefit the county’s long-term vision for traffic control and safety in the area surrounding the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge.
The article originally appeared in the August 13 – 19, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
