The following is an ‘Ask The Mayor’ question submitted to TLS, and the Mayor’s response. Email your questions for the Mayor to [email protected].

Question:

Dear Mayor Coles,

I am writing to respectfully request that the Township consider establishing a public municipal parking lot on a portion of the Township-owned property located on East 9th Street between Princeton Avenue and the railroad tracks.

The property appears to be largely unused for much of the time, with a substantial portion of the lot often remaining empty. At the same time, residents in the surrounding neighborhood face ongoing parking challenges and limited available parking on nearby streets. I believe that designating approximately 20 parking spaces as a public municipal lot would provide a valuable service to the community and make better use of an existing Township asset.

This proposal would not require the Township to dedicate the entire property to public parking. Rather, a portion of the lot could be set aside for neighborhood use while preserving the Township’s ability to utilize the remainder of the property for any current or future municipal needs.

Creating a municipal parking lot at this location could help reduce congestion on surrounding streets, improve safety, and provide much-needed parking relief for local residents while making productive use of property that is frequently underutilized.

I respectfully ask that you review this proposal and consider directing the appropriate Township departments to evaluate the feasibility of creating a municipal parking lot at this location.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and service to the residents of Lakewood.

Respectfully,

your neighbors

Response from Mayor Coles:

Hi,

The property you are referring to is the site of the old public works. Much of it had to be set aside for preservation. I will ask the committee and engineers to look into the possibility of using part of it for parking.

Ray

Question:

Dear Mayor Coles,

Thank you so much for allowing us this opportunity to ask the questions that come up about our wonderful town of Lakewood. Here are a few of mine:

Number One: Pine Boulevard can go from Route 9 to Massachusetts if the middle section were connected. Right now, by Hearthstone Park, you are unable to continue through, and you have to go all the way through Hearthstone on residential streets that used to be quiet and calm to get to Route 9. Are there plans to open it? If yes, when? Thank you.

Number Two: Coming from Route 88 and making a left onto Lane Mill Road, the traffic light there only lets a few cars through during each green turn signal. I often end up having to wait between 5 and 10 minutes to make that turn. Is there anything that can be done about that?

Number Three: The traffic light coming off the Garden State Parkway South and making a left onto Airport Road is extremely long. I was there the other day and had to wait between 3 and 5 minutes. There were cars that started turning left even during the red light because they thought it was broken. It did eventually turn green. I am wondering if there is a way to monitor it with sensors so that doesn’t happen.

Number Four: Thank you so much for the light by Broadway and Route 9. It has really helped the pedestrians and all of the cars that travel through that area.

Thank you so much for everything that you do. I truly appreciate it, and I hope that you have many more happy and healthy years.

-A grateful resident

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good morning

OK, here we go

1 – I will ask the engineers to look into this. I believe the portion that would connect goes through property dedicated to Hearthstone Park, which is restricted to green acres.

2 – I know that light well! We will need to work with both the state DOT (Rt 88) and the county (Lanes Mill) to look into the timing for the light. I’ll make the request this morning.

3 – I’ve forwarded your request to our engineer. I am not sure if it is a matter of timing or a bad sensor, but we will look into it.

4 – I agree. That and the one on Oak have been a long time in coming. We are still working with the state to add others along 9 as well.

Thanks for your insightful questions.

Ray

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