Local residents give input on Rt 9

Route 9 in Lakewood
Highway length: 3 miles
Weekday volume: 21,000 to 38,000 vehicles
Annual crashes: 240, 3 times the state average for similar roadways

APP LAKEWOOD - It seems only fitting that a forum called to talk about how to ease congestion on Route 9 would result in a bottleneck getting into the  meeting room.

Hundreds jammed the conference room to talk about how to improve traffic flow on the busy roadway, bringing probing questions, detailed suggestions for easing congestion, and war stories from the front lines of the daily battle with Route 9 gridlock.

The heavy turnout is an indicator of just how critical an issue Route 9 has become for local residents like Jacob Leitman, who lives just off the highway in the southern end of town.

“I think since 2010 it’s gotten steadily worse,” said Leitman, 39. “People are just building more businesses (and) more housing and a lot of schools in that area.”


The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, which is coordinating the study in conjunction with state, county and local planning officials, had the data to confirm his assessment.

The technical term for traffic conditions now might be “horrendous.”

On a typical weekday, between 9 a.m and 10:30 a.m., northbound traffic in the three miles of Route 9 running through Lakewood limps along at an excruciating 12 mph. Similar torture awaits motorists during the afternoon rush hour. It takes some local schoolchildren up to 90 minutes to get to and from their schools.

“Anyone who doesn’t have to use Route 9 avoids it,” said Gordon Meth, The RBA Group’s traffic engineering director.

That’s easy to do, provided you don’t need to travel very far north or south. If not, the nearest north-south route is New Hampshire Avenue, which is located more than 1.5 miles east of Route 9.

Once the main road to the Jersey Shore in the days before the Garden State Parkway, Route 9 hasn't changed a whole lot since then, at least not here. Though it stretches to four lanes in Monmouth County, it shrinks back to two lanes in Lakewood and northern Toms River, the focus of the current study. Both of those areas have undergone intensive development in recent years.

The solution that local officials and residents want is to widen the road, a project that's been discussed for decades. But that's not likely to happen unless the state finds a way to replenish its depleted transportation trust fund, explained Scott Stephens, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. A comprehensive cost analysis hasn't been done for a widening of the road, but Stephens said it's likely in the "many hundreds of millions of dollars."

With widening of the road apparently unlikely -- at least for now --  the focus of the current study is identify "low-cost, high-impact" remedies to improve traffic flow and public safety. These might include zoning changes, bicycle lanes, spaces for buses to pull off the road and better crosswalks for pedestrians - all of which were explained in detail Tuesday night by experts stationed at displays set up in the meeting room.

One resident suggested building a tunnel under the old road.

Traffic experts studying solutions to the state highway’s woes wanted input from local residents. On Tuesday night, they got it, and then some.

Organizers of the meeting, held on the heels of a similar session last week in Toms River, had printed up 250 surveys in anticipation of a big turnout. Halfway through, they had to use a copier in Town Hall to print up more. In all, about 500 people showed up.

“It shows incredible public support,” noted Michael B. Dannemiller, a planning consultant with The RBA Group, Inc., based in Parsippany. He was one of several professionals who stayed well beyond the scheduled 8 p.m. wrap-up of the meeting to talk with interested residents.


Police Chief Robert Lawson described Route 9 congestion as an “extreme problem” that causes traffic accidents, delays emergency response times, and endangers the public welfare. It also hurts businesses in the area, he added.

“It’s important this issue gets addressed sooner than later,” he said.

Ari Berkowitz, publisher of The Voice of Lakewood, a local weekly magazine, who is heading up a grassroots campaign to press for the highway’s widening, said interim measures won't be enough to make a meaningful improvement.

"We all feel strongly that the only answer is the widening," Berkowitz said. He said his group has already spoken with property owners along Route 9 who would be willing to donate easements to the state to reduce the acquisition costs, one of the widening project's biggest stumbling blocks.

“It can happen. It’s not an impossibility,” said Moshe Newhouse, a local real estate agent who supports the widening campaign. “I’m leaving here excited.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Albert Akerman said he’s hopeful that state legislators recognize how crucial it is to raise the revenue necessary to fund badly needed infrastructure improvements across the state. One way to do that, some say, is by raising the state’s 14.5-cent gas tax. New Jersey has the second-lowest gas tax in the U.S., but polls have shown most New Jerseyans are opposed to raising it.

“If the state does the gas tax, there will be more than enough money for Route 9,” Akerman said.

With the discussion sessions now completed, the next step is for the experts working on the Route 9 study to produce a report detailing specific recommendations, after which another round of public hearings will be held.

Edward J Snieckus Jr., a consultant with Burgis Associates Inc., based in Westwood, said he was impressed by the degree to which the community is engaged in the process.

“Everybody had good ideas. The tunnel? A good idea,” he joked after the meeting, “but kind of out there.”

Shannon Mullen: 732-643-4278; smullen4@gannettnj.com

Route 9 in Lakewood

Highway length: 3 miles

Weekday volume: 21,000 to 38,000 vehicles

Annual crashes: 240, 3 times the state average for similar roadways