By DON STINE
Asbury Park’s Fourth Avenue has been notorious for sometime now for its poor condition but, with increased bus and truck traffic from a detour route to replace the Sunset Avenue Bridge, matters are only getting worse.
“The buses and trucks only result in making the road deteriorate faster,” Mayor John Moor said at the last City Council meeting.
And while city public works crews have been out filling potholes in the harsh winter weather, things are not looking too much better.
As a possible solution Asbury Park is petitioning Monmouth County officials to aid in repaving Fourth Avenue.
The Sunset Avenue Bridge, which spans Deal Lake between the Wanamassa section of Ocean Township and Asbury Park, closed at the end of January and will remain closed for an estimated 454 days under a $9 million to $10 million state Department of Transportation funded project.
The projected date for the bridge to reopen is May 27, 2016
A resolution passed at last week’s council meeting requests county aid to reconstruct Fourth Avenue, from Ridge Avenue to Memorial Drive, and at several adjacent roadways.
Asbury Park officials said that recent snow storms, coupled with need to use Fourth Avenue as the detour route, has worsened conditions in the area.
The resolution also seeks some work, including landscaping, be done to parts of neighboring Third Avenue and two side streets: Comstock and Pine.
Moor said New Jersey Transit insists on using Pine and Comstock to access the rest of its Sunset Avenue route from Fourth Avenue, resulting in curb and landscape damage on the corners. He said 22 buses run the route daily.
No monetary amount was discussed for any project.
Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn suggested changing the detour route to Asbury Avenue instead but city police said that road is already stressed.
“Asbury Avenue is maxed-out right now,” traffic Officer Joel Fiori said.
He added that motorists are already familiar with the Fourth Avenue detour route by now and probably still use it anyway.
