Township wants county to help make roads safer
Residents' complaints about Sharon Station Road continue
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

Upper Freehold

UPPER FREEHOLD - The Township Committee seems divided on the issue of restricting truck traffic on Sharon Station Road. However, officials agree that improvements to the road are necessary.

Residents from the Woods at Cream Ridge and Galloping Brook developments attended the Nov. 28 Township Committee meeting to voice concerns about truck traffic in their neighborhoods, and to hear a report on possible alternative routes for that traffic from Township Engineer Glenn Gerken.

Township Commit-teeman Stephen Alexander, who favors a weight limit on Sharon Station Road, agreed with other officials that the township must work with the county on the issue. Although the township currently owns and operates the road, it has been asking the county to take it over for years.

According to Gerken's report, the fastest way for trucks to travel through town to the interstate is Route 539 to Sharon Station Road to Route 526 and the easterly bypass to I-195.

Gerken said that the county engineer's office has already indicated to him that it would not restrict truck traffic along Route 539. The county would only restrict traffic for construction reasons, he said.

Gerken said Sharon Station Road would serve as the detour for traffic when the Allentown bridge closes for reconstruction within the next couple of years.

Alexander said that the township must also work with Allentown on this issue, and that he had already spoken with Allentown Mayor Stuart Fierstein.

"We both don't want trucks on Sharon Station Road and traffic going in front of the school," Alexander said.

Alexander said trucks going through the heart of the township is a quality-of-life issue.

Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said he understands that trucks are annoying, and that there is no question that people along Sharon Station Road have to live with truck noise and concerns.

"Seven thousand trips a day on that road is of equal concern," he said.

Fleischacker said that once the county finishes realigning Route 539 and Sharon Station Road, it is scheduled to replace the three bridges on Sharon Station Road. He said the county plans to replace those bridges before the Allentown bridge closes for reconstruction.

Replacing the Sharon Station Road bridges could take six to nine months, he said.

With the number of trips on Sharon Station Road and the condition of the road, Fleischacker said it should be improved now.

While negotiations with the county to take over Sharon Station Road have been going on for years, Gerken said they appear to have been put on the back burner. He said he had spoken to County Engineer Joseph Ettore about installing calming devices on the road, such as a median, and Ettore agreed.

Gerken said the road improvements should take place when the bridge is being repaired.

Galloping Brook resident Megan Millers called the traffic study numbers "staggering." She said that 7,000 to 9,000 cars a day is a cause for safety concerns.

"Route 526 has a 50-mph speed limit and is a passing zone," she said. "In addition, there is no shoulder on the road. It is extremely difficult to exit and enter the developments along the Sharon Station Road and 526 corridor during certain times of the day.

"This township needs to work in unity with the county to make the roads safer for its residents," she added.

Deputy Mayor William Miscoski, who attended the meeting via speakerphone, has opposed banning truck traffic on the road.

"If you have 7,000 trips, why not ban cars?" he asked. "Since we have houses there now, should we restrict everybody [not living in] those houses from using the road?"

Dr. S. Perrine Dey said that Sharon Station Road is a major artery for farmers moving equipment in the community. While a truck ban would leave the road open to trucks from businesses that are located there, according to Dey, most farmers do not live on Sharon Station Road.

"Only limiting trucking to people who live on that road will markedly affect the ability of the farmer to farm ground in Upper Freehold," he said.

Resident Tony Consoli asked about the impact of banning truck traffic on Sharon Station Road on the proposed westerly bypass. He asked the governing body to recognize that Allentown and the county have been historical proponents of the bypass, which would direct traffic around downtown Allentown.

Consoli said he is concerned that adopting a weight limit on Sharon Station Road may have an undue impact on the ability to stop the bypass. He said the township should also talk to the county about creating an interchange for I-195 at Sharon Station Road.

According to Fierstein, when studies for the westerly bypass were completed in the early 1990s, the volume of traffic was nowhere near what it is today. He said that traffic in the area is already in excess of the amount predicted by the studies for 2010.

Fierstein said that truck traffic and the westerly bypass are regional issues that must be addressed by the county, not just local officials.

"The county has the responsibility to move traffic from county roads to state roads," he said.