By Stephen Appezzato
LINCROFT – Residents of the Lincroft section of Middletown Township continue to call for action from officials as speeding and dangerous driving persists along Newman Springs Road (County Route 520), causing crashes and posing risks for pedestrians and drivers, they say.
At a Middletown Township Committee meeting March 3, Lincroft community members voiced their concerns, urging swift changes to the roadway.
“Lincroft residents have continued to notice an increase in accidents, speeding and unsafe driving habits on our stretch of 520 over the past year, culminating in the most recent accident this past Thursday, Feb. 27,” said resident and Lincroft Village Green Association (LVGA) co-director Coralee Dixon. “I wish I could say this is a rare occurrence, but every resident of Lincroft knows it is not.”
Last week, a driver making a left turn from Roma Court onto Route 520 was struck by a westbound vehicle and crashed into Dixon’s property. “Others can tell similar stories of accidents, dangerous speeding, tailgating, sideswiping and red lights being run,” Dixon added.
Members of the LVGA, a civic association that addresses quality-of-life issues such as traffic calming, roadway safety, historic preservation and beautification in Lincroft, have sounded the alarm about Newman Springs Road for years.
Resident Denise Bailey noted the roadway is notorious for vehicle crashes. In December, a 95-year-old driver died in a hospital after she was involved in a two-car crash on Route 520.
“I am asking this township committee to put its full force backing behind a comprehensive approach to slow the speed, reduce the crashes and save lives,” Bailey said.
“The situation has become dire and is affecting our entire community,” said Dixon. “All our local officials, law enforcement, businesses, county engineers and commissioners always agree that this is a huge problem and major changes are needed, and yet here we still are with the opening of Life Time (fitness center) in February 2024, the new Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in May 2024 and the upcoming housing development at River Center 109. The existing issues are being exacerbated and the problems will only continue to get worse,” she said, a stance echoed by fellow LVGA director Melanie Elmiger.
In the future, developer AvalonBay could construct a four-story, 340-unit apartment building on the south side of Newman Springs Road by Garden State Parkway exit 109 as part of the River Centre South Redevelopment Plan, which was adopted by the township in 2023.
Because Newman Springs Road is a county road, control of speed and traffic and engineering changes are under the county’s oversight. However, the township can ramp up traffic enforcement along the route.
Responding to residents’ concerns, Middletown Police increased traffic enforcement along Route 520 in the past year. According to Mayor Tony Perry, in January and February, 176 motor vehicle stops occurred along Newman Springs Road – 83 of which resulted in at least one summons. Across the rest of the township, there were 959 stops during the same period, which resulted in 295 summonses.
“There’s a much higher rate of tickets and summons being written on 520,” Perry said.
“I just wanted it to be clear that our police, with that presence, with the new speeding signs that you may have noticed out there, they are targeting this area for enforcement.”
Despite increased policing efforts, vehicle collisions and dangerous driving persists along Route 520 and Lincroft residents continue to call for roadway changes. In an email, Elmiger told The Two River Times that Lincroft residents have formed a new community group focused solely on improving Route 520.
“Since Middletown hopes to approve 340 housing units at exit 109, which is already a big contributor to the volume of vehicles coming through Lincroft, it is important that the issues of accidents and speeding on 520 are addressed now. When a road dissecting a community is unsafe to cross by car with a left turn and impossible to cross as a pedestrian, it is time for the County to explore whether this four-lane, high-speed highway should be REDUCED to a two-lane road with center left turns and pedestrian refuges,” she wrote.
At the township committee meeting, Perry said there will be a public information session at 6 p.m. March 18 at Town Hall to bring residents and township and county officials and professionals together to discuss the matter.
“We will be there to engage in what I think could be a more productive conversation about what you want to see, what your concerns are,” Perry said.
The article originally appeared in the March 6 – March 12, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
