Allentown will get its temp. bridge

ALLENTOWN - In response to local residents' concerns, Monmouth County will install a temporary bridge over Doctor's Creek during the construction of a new bridge and dam downtown.

County Engineer Joseph Ettore presented two options for replacing the Allentown Pond Dam and County Bridge U-12, which carries Route 524 (Main Street) over Doctor's Creek in Allentown, at recent public hearings inAllentown and Upper Freehold. After the hearings, the governing bodies of each town adopted resolutions supporting the installation of a temporary bridge over the closing of Main Street with traffic detours.

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders announced on April 11 that as a result of the resolutions it has begun to advance a project entailing the installation of the temporary bridge.

"I am happy to be able to move forward with this important project," Freeholder William C. Barham, liaison to the county's Department of Pubic Works and Engineering, said in a press release about the project.

Barham said this option insures the safety and convenience of the residents and patrons ofAllentown and Upper Freehold.

"Keeping Main Street open to traffic will maintain the viability of the downtown Allentown," Barham said. "More importantly, the route will be available to emergency service vehicles, school buses and postal deliveries."

The Board of Chosen Freeholders is now seeking bids to install the temporary span before work begins to replace the Main Street Bridge and Allentown Dam. The project will cost $6.5 million and is expected to take 18 to 22 months to complete.

The original proposal to close Main Street during construction would have cost $5 million and would have taken 18 months to complete. However, the original plan would have shut the road and divided the borough through the downtown.

The proposal that residents favor and the Freeholders are supporting entails keeping Main Street open to traffic with the temporary bridge, eliminating two detour routes of two and eight miles.