Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Report: Lakewood Officials acknowledged to Abandon Widening route 9 and conditioned approval of the Parke Development

A few weeks ago the state said they will not be widening route 9 that runs through Lakewood. A Report in the Yated Ne'eman says that NJ State officials told Lakewood township back in 2016 they must abandon the idea of widening route 9 and figure out other ways  how to reduce local traffic, More,  they conditioned the approval for the eagle ridge development  on Lakewood officials dropping demands of widening  route 9. Instead the town was supposed to adopt a updated circulation element as part of the master plan and acknowledging that the state does not have the funds to widen route 9. Ironically the report says the Parke got approval from the Lakewood planning board after presenting traffic studies that showed the widening of route 9.

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23 comments:

  1. This is the most upsetting thing I have ever seen regarding our current form of government. They have been telling us that they are working to get route 9 widened for 20 years now, while continuing to build unfettered. While we all knew that this promise was unachievable, we did not know that they literally gave up trying to get the state to widen the 9 in order to facilitate the approval of a large development.
    This new revelation is monumental. This is not merely an irresponsible favor for the usual well connected. This is proof positive that they don't care about the klal whatsoever and at the same time wrote articles that they were widening route 9 after they knew that they themselves sold that option for their own selfish reasons.

    I really hope everyone that hasn't voted yet will vote. The time has come to end this abuse of the klal. I will speak up for the klal from my seat on the committee. I will not speak out from blog comments or from the podium in the audience. It is well established that citizens concerns or protests are ignored.

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    1. Not only that, but the gas tax under Christie was approved by Senator Singer with the understanding that a portion of the new revenue would be earmarked for widening Route 9. We all been played with and robbed from for long enough. It's time for a change. My vote is for Hershel. Enough already!!

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  2. I think some OPRA requests are necessary.

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  3. We can use some OPRA requests on this.

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  4. March 2017 they were playing us with widening route nine with funds from the gas tax


    https://www.nj.com/politics/2017/03/find_out_which_of_your_countys_roads_bridges_will.html
    Ocean County

    No repairs, but the portion of Route 9 running through Lakewood will receive "concept development for widening."

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  5. Let them all swear under oath when they knew about this and who acknowledged it to the state.

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  6. The Lakewood Vaad in November 2016 said to vote yes on the gas tax referendum because it will help road projects such as Route 9.

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    1. I dont recall there ever was a referendum on the gas tax.

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    2. It was a ballot question in the November elections of 2016

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  7. Every township official who knew about this should be held accountable and face the public and tell us to our face why this was kept secret but they kept on promising that they are working to widen route Nine

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  8. This is shocking and if we can get this as a guaranteed report not just a report from Yated it will be monumental to all the non believers in town and say of course the vaad is looking after us. This is not just a matter of lakewood as this traffic in lakewood on rt 9 shuts down toms river and howell at rush hour . we need to show proof and all would change because than our shows blackamd white that we we all lied to and no official government in lalewood will be believed on anything if we we're liedtho like this

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    1. I was sent the actual report that the yated based this article on. I posted it on a few what's app chat groups. If Mr. Hefkervelt would kindly go find them he can post them on here. These are factual. I am not a private investigator. I don't do Opra requests or look for wrongdoings. I discuss cold hard truths that smack us in the face every day. Once in a while I get sent things that support the obvious. I always knew that widening Route 9 was not an option. But I would never have dreamed that in order to allow an absolutely irresponsible development at this point of our infrastructure needs, our leaders would literally guarantee that Route 9 will remain a parking lot, and only continue to get worse. They wont answer any of your questions honestly. They will probably ignore these articles and comments. If they do answer, it will be with more falsehood to cover up the truth. For over 20 years we have been told lies. We have been told how to vote and that its for our best interest. Look what we got. A town that is no longer Lakewood and lacking the benefits of Brooklyn with all of its shortcomings. We have succeeded in giving our honest, caring, and considerate community a reputation of being the exact opposite. Simply because we gave support and votes to those that only care about their own needs. This isn't about blaming anyone or trying to hurt anybody. It's simply about doing what is right for everyone from now on.
      Please vote. Please ask every person you know If they voted. If you didn't get a ballot, you can vote on Tuesday July 7th.
      Republican primary ballot.

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    2. I pray that you win, Hershel! I'm at the point where the taxes are going so high, I might just move to Jackson!

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  9. I’m heartbroken to see that we are being played by our leaders to do favors for their friends- the developers.
    I’m a taxpayer and a voter- I don’t want anymore building!! The traffic is horrible. We have enough places for people to live presently-‘we don’t need more that cannot be supported by the roads.
    Can eagle ridge be stopped? Cross is already a mess!

    Also- I’ve been living in Lakewood for over 20 years. The taxes have gone through the roof with all this building.
    Stop!!!

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  10. There should be hearings and all township members from all boards professionals consultants,engineers should testify under oath what they knew and when. The people who suffer should have rights to know all this information.

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  11. I dont see why this should be any different than Bridgegate what happened in Tenefly Fort Lee NJ

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    1. Even worse here! We have everlasting traffic!
      Vote for Hershel! Make the madness stop!

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  12. The problem is that hardly anyone besides for hefkervelt reports on this. Luckily this time it's also in the Yated. But we must spread the word! People don't even know about these shananigans.

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  13. Please vote for the regular incumbents again. I promise that we will try extra hard this time, harder than before, to convince the State to widen route 9. Don’t let yourself be persuaded to vote for Herschel just because of some silly issue such as widening route 9 and the minor traffic issues. There are no other problems in town. Give us another chance.

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  14. Then maybe people should stop moving here and over crowding the area, maybe find a less densely populated area !


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    1. If the problem was only due to people moving here and occupying the preciously existing housing stock, everything would be fine. The problem however is that this Committee keeps allowing their developer friends to keep building and more and more, all the while marketing to out of towners to keep moving here to the thousands of new houses they keep building for them — and no upgrade of the roadway infrastructure is going to happen.

      This lack of proper planning shows that the current politicians are not qualified to lead our town. They are doing everything they can to destroy our quality of life. It’s way past the time for different leaders!

      Vote for Hershel.

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  15. I can't understand what our Lakewood Rabbis decided to issue a proclamation against outdoor minyonim during the Covid-19 pandemic "mishum ayvah", not to arouse the ire of our non-Jewish neighbors. In truth, the Gentiles could not care less what we do in our backyards.

    The reverse is true regarding the Eagle Ridge development. Notwithstanding the quasi-illegal shenanigans that were perpetuated in order gain township approval of that development, the removal of the golf course caused great anguish to the senior citizens to whom this sport is their sole reason for living. Yes, golf means nothing to us, but to those seniors golf is like davening, lahavdil.

    I was in the audience when public hearings regarding Eagle Ridge was held before the zoning board. I heard senior citizens pleading with the authorities not to take away the most important venue of their lives, to no avail. I cannot imagine a greater reason to be considered with "ayvah". From the Rabbis? Nary a peep.

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