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State Discusses Improvements For Route 70 In Brick
By Keith Hagarty
Traffic has long been a hotly debated issue in Brick, with more questions than answers.
To help address the growing congestion along Route 70, state officials recently updated the Township Council on its vision and recommendations for the town's busiest roadways.
"We've been working with the municipality over the last few months coming up with what we're calling the 'Route 70 Integrated Land Use and Transportation Plan,'" said Gary Leach, of the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Division of Project Planning and Development.
"It's a study that focuses on a portion of the township, which includes Route 88 over to the stretch of Route 70, as well as Cedar Bridge Avenue, Chambers Bridge Road and Brick Boulevard," said Leach.
The overall goal and objective of the study was to work in collaboration with the town and state agencies to create a roadmap to address congestion and to assist the town as they attempt to create a town center, said Jennifer Grenier, a consultant with the firm PB Americas, Inc. The firm is a national organization specializing in planning, engineering and program and construction management.
"We were asked by the township to look at Route 70 from Forge Pond to Duquesne Boulevard," said Grenier. "Basically, the study was on the integrated lanes and transportation plans, and we were also looking at the town center area, where the township has a town center plan which basically covers the (Ocean Medical Center) hospital area and then down where the retail center is and up on Chambers Bridge Road."
One of the reasons Brick has had such an ongoing battle with traffic is its location as a nexus of local and state roadways for commuters and everyday motorists around town.
"It is important to note that in this area that most of the roads are county routes and we got the Garden State Parkway in here and you've got a state highway," said Grenier. "There are not a lot of local streets in this area, so you don't have a lot of opportunities for local trips to happen on local streets. Everything is happening on somebody else's facility."
In addition, Grenier noted there are also several environmental constraints tied into the surrounding area
"With the Forge Pond, with the wildlife area and all the different wildlife species in the area, and you've got a lot of wetlands in Brick, those are some of the things we're dealing with when looking at improvements to this corridor," she said.
The region is growing more and more with each passing year, said Grenier, and while the area in question is already widely developed, there are still opportunities for a town center as old businesses move out, new ones move in.
"There's a huge population growth in Ocean County and Brick Township," said Grenier. "The township did a really great job in identifying some things and getting the DOT's attention by saying, 'we'll do whatever we can, and work with you on a long-term study.'"
As a 36-year Brick resident, Grenier applauded the township's efforts in providing connectivity between the town's newest shopping centers, thereby minimizing the shoppers' need to get back onto the highway.
"That's great because that help improves the efficiency and keep the regional trip from a regional facility and the local trip in a local facility," she said.
When planning a town center, Grenier advises the town to also think about nonmotorists who wish to travel to and from the facility, including seniors and parents with small children.
"A town center in my mind, and many people's minds, means walk-ability, it means being able to get from one place to another, and not just in an automobile," she said. "We have to find a way to balance the regional mobility and your local mobility to make that town center occur. We need to find that balance."
Before any town center can be successfully built, Grenier said there are still several outstanding issues that will need to be addressed over time.
"As we develop and as we re-develop, we need to shape it to form that sense of community that you want to have in that town center," she said. "You want to manage your congestion and create that center feeling."
Other improvements Grenier mentioned for the area were to provide better walkways and possibly even pedestrian tunnels under the highly congested roadways, as well as the potential installation of pedestrian overpasses at busy intersections.
According to the DOT, the earliest estimate for any official state plan for the Brick area would be sometime in the spring.
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