By Liz Sheehan
Monmouth County has announced it will hold public meetings in Sea Bright and Rumson on Wednesday, June 8, to inform the local community of the plans for the proposed bridge which will replace the one built in 1950 that crosses the Shrewsbury River and connects Rumson and Sea Bright. There will be a question and answer portion of the meeting with officials.
The bridge will be moved slightly to the south from its present location, and its relocation will result in some changes to the area.
In Rumson, the meeting will be from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Rumson-Fair Haven High School cafeteria, 74 Ridge Avenue. A brief presentation will be held at 7 p.m.
In Sea Bright, the meeting will be held at the Municipal Building public meeting room, 1167 Ocean Avenue, from 2 – 4 p.m., with a brief presentation at 2:30 pm.
At the public meeting on April 5 about the plans for the bridge, concerns were raised about the proposal to make Old Rumson Road, in Rumson, into a two-way street, according to summary of the meeting posted the county’s website.
The response from the county representative on April 5, according the county’s report, was that at a previous meeting there was overwhelming public comment against the proposed cul-de-sac at the intersection of Rumson Road, Ward Avenue and Old Rumson Road.
The project team, based on input from a stakeholders meeting and a follow-up focus group meeting regarding the intersection, had redesigned the intersection and presented it to local officials attending the April 5 meeting, the report said.
At a June 2015 focus group meeting on the bridge plans, Rumson Police Chief Scott Patterson said, according to the county report on the meeting, that as a lifelong resident of the borough, he was of the opinion that the proposed cul-de-sac would create more problems rather than improve the functionality of the intersection.
On Tuesday, Patterson said, concerning the bridge project, “Obviously I want the whole plan to be transparent, since it affects a lot of people.”
Another question asked at the April 5 meeting was if a traffic signal could be placed
at Ward Avenue and Rumson Road. The answer from the county representative was this had been evaluated, but because of the bridge openings and the traffic signal on the Sea Bright side of the bridge it “was not considered a viable improvement option.”
In Sea Bright, the county representative at the April meeting, said the county is proposing to purchase the current Sunoco property to provide access to the Nautilus Condominium complex and compensate for loss of parking for Dunkin Donuts and Oar Fitness property. Dunkin Donuts and Oar Fitness will have access from Old Rumson Road, which will have a right turn in and a right out onto Ocean Avenue southbound.
The shifting of the bridge to the south and the relocation of the signalized Route 36 intersection to the south would allow for longer storage length for the Route 36 southbound right turn lane. However, Route 36 northbound’s left storage length is reduced from present conditions, the meeting report said.
The proposals to improve this situation include realigning the Sea Bright Beach Club south driveway as a part of the signalized intersection and relocating the driveway of the Chapel Beach Club to the southern side of the property.
On Wednesday, Laura Kilpatrick, director of Public Information and Tourism said that “some things may change,” from the plans that were presented to the public at the April 8 meeting.
She said that work on the bridge is planned to start in 2020 with completion at the end of 2021.
The county said that those unable to attend the the meeting or to make comments at them can submit written comments through July 8, sent to engineer@co.monmouth nj.us, by fax to 732-431-7765 or Inkyung Englehart, Project Coordinator, Monmouth County Department of Public Works , Division of Engineering, Hall of Records Anne, 1 East Main St., 3rd Floor, Freehold, NJ,07728.
