Resident says bypass would relieve traffic

It is election time in Upper Freehold, and the politicians are pretty unified in their opposition to the westerly bypass. The usual reasons have been given: there are other solutions being investigated, it should not go past the school, it would endanger the children in the soccer and baseball fields. All good reasons, but some of them could be used to support the bypass. All that traffic that would use the bypass goes right through Allentown, past the school and the school's playground.

Since the bypasses were proposed, we have heard these arguments, and nothing has changed except Upper Freehold has grown and more cars and trucks go through Allentown. In 1990, Upper Freehold had 3,277 residents; today there are more than 5,996. Plumsted had 6,003 in 1990, and 8,045 today, while Allentown had 1,828 in 1990 and 1875 today. Allentown is not growing, but Upper Freehold, Plumsted and other towns to the south are. In recent weeks, the township has approved another 96-lot subdivision and is in the process of granting approval for warehouses and affordable housing to be built alongside Allentown's Heritage Park that, according to the developer, will add another 90 cars a day to Allentown's traffic problems - just from the warehouse workers.

The bypass will not eliminate traffic in the borough, it will only help manage it a little better, just like the eastern bypass has helped reduce traffic coming south on 539. Arguments both for and against the bypass can be made, and some are very good. The children who use the fields will be closer to traffic than they are now; however, the road can be engineered for safety, and right now those same children are put at danger in Allentown every day of the year, not just a couple of days a week for a few months of the year, but every day as they walk and play on Main, Church and High streets. For those of you who are newer to the area, the village pharmacy did not always look like it does now; it was redesigned by a car that plowed into the store; 39 Main use to have two railings until a car took one out, and the house on the corner of High and Main once had a car redecorate their living room.

As I said, the bypass will not eliminate traffic, only help relieve it, and I hope the Upper Freehold residents continue to look for other ways to improve traffic flow. But don't expect or ask the citizens of Allentown to wait any longer for a road that is about 15 years in the making.

Robert C. Kline

Allentown