Monmouth county engineers and town officials are “dead set” on elevating the bridge that connects Middletown and Red Bank on West Front Street. The increased height would enable larger boats to navigate underneath the new bridge, to property that was recently purchased by the town at Chris’s Landing. Town officials will not disclose what development is planned for their new marina but they will support a plan that would alter the current bridge that is perfectly sound. I find this quite disturbing!
The new bridge is not being proposed for safety reasons. Nor, would any alterations to the current bridge improve traffic flow. And, the railroad trestle on the Red Bank side would continue to restrict the traffic pattern regardless of the alterations made to the current bridge. Further, county engineers have proposed that the bridge be made wider to satisfy federal parameters in order to secure federal funding for the project. This will cause property owners to lose their property in order to accommodate the width of the new bridge.
Town officials claim they do not have a development plan for the marina area, yet they are willing to initiate a project that would result in a new bridge that does not improve traffic flow and would cost property owners the loss of their property. So, why is a new elevated bridge being proposed unless it is to accommodate the development that is planned for the town’s newly acquired marina. It would be very poor business practice to initiate a project without knowing what the end state would be. However, to have a plan and not fully disclose that plan to the public would be a violation of the public’s trust.
Patrick Short
Middletown, NJ
(Mr. Short is a candidate for Middletown Township Committee)
