Walkway work may snarl traffic
W.L.B. council approves closing part of road to facilitate work on underpass
By sherry conohan
Staff Writer

In order to improve the walking conditions for the long term, traffic on Cedar Avenue in West Long Branch is going to be worse for the short term.

Last week, in preparation for work being done on Monmouth University’s pedestrian underpass of the roadway, the Borough Council adopted a resolution approving a plan to close off one lane of traffic during construction and authorizing police to set up a detour.

The westbound lane will be closed for approximately 20 working days with the contractor expecting to work six days a week, Monday through Saturday.

The remaining eastbound lane will switch over to the other side of the street around Nov. 1.

The pedestrian underpass is being built by the state Department of Transportation to enable students who live in residence halls and other pedestrians to get over to the other side of the campus with classroom buildings more safely.

In recent years, a West Long Branch resident was killed while trying to cross the street, and three crossing guards were injured at the site.

The resolution provides that if any police are required at the site during the closure, Monmouth University will provide them at its expense. If Monmouth University is unable to provide the necessary police presence, the borough will provide police at contract rates, payable by the university.

Monmouth University also will reimburse the borough at contract rates for a borough policeman to operate radar to keep tabs on any speeding that may occur on local streets to which traffic will be detoured during the closure.

The resolution directed that all detouring be under the control and supervision of Sgt. Arthur Cosentino or another designee of the police chief.

Representatives of the university, the contractor, Rencor, Inc., and the state Department of Transportation, along with Police Chief John Demaree and Cosentino, met with the mayor and council in caucus to iron out these details.

In another discussion related to the university, Councilman William R. Deisinger reported that in the month of September the Fire Department responded to 27 calls, 21 of them at Monmouth University.

The borough’s volunteer firemen have asked the council to consider talking to Monmouth University to seek a tuition break for them at the school as one possible incentive to bring more recruits into the department.

Deisinger has pointed to the frequency of calls responded to at the campus as reason for doing so.

According to members of the department who met with the council recently, the commitment required to join the department makes it difficult to attract new members and the number of those actively participating is down drastically in recent years.