Intermittent lane closures near West Front St. Bridge

Motorist should expect delays between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Detours will be posted 

photo via visitmonmouth.com

MIDDLETOWN, NJ – Beginning today, there will be intermittent lane closures between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Hubbard Avenue and other roads on the Middletown side of the West Front Street Bridge.

The work being is done by the County in preparation of the Jan. 2 closure of the West Front Street Bridge.

“This work needs to be done in advance of the closure so that the local roads can adequately handle the detours that will be put into place during the prolonged closure,” said Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone, liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering.

On Jan. 2, work will begin to connect the new bridge to the Middletown and Red Bank shorelines. This work will take approximately four months to complete.

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The Arnone Report: Shop Local, Tourism Grant, Fleet Shared Services prepping County and Towns for winter

By Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone

Freeholder Tom Arone

With the holidays upon us, please keep in mind The Made in Monmouth Holiday Shopping Guide is ready. It is available on the county’s website by going to www.visitmonmouth.com. The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders encourages people to shop local for their holiday gifts. Additionally, as liaison to the Department of Economic Development, I am very proud to announce that Made in Monmouth is expanding. There will be two mini-Made in Monmouth events for the holiday season. The first one is scheduled for December 13^th at the Manalapan Community Center on Route 33. This event is being hosted by the Board of Chosen Freeholders, Manalapan Township mayor and committee and the Manalapan Economic Development Committee. The second mini-Made in Monmouth is being hosted by the Freeholders and Cream Ridge Winery. It will be held December 20^th at the winery in Cream Ridge.  Both of these events give our small businesses the opportunity to expand their customer base and give more shoppers the opportunity to support local business.

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The Arnone Report

Freeholder Director Tom Arone

By Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone

Our Grow Monmouth Façade Improvement Program continues to be popular. We are still accepting applications and approving projects to help businesses improve the look of their building. We could not be more pleased with how the program is going. As part of the Grow Monmouth Initiative this past weekend there was a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of Little Dog Brewing, a microbrewery located on Steiner Avenue in Neptune City. Along with Mayor Brown, I was happy to attend and cut the ribbon at the brewery’s opening. The Grow Monmouth Business Roundtables will be continuing after the holidays. I look forward to getting back out to discuss the needs of Monmouth County’s business community.

We continue to assist our municipalities with ensuring the safety of Monmouth County and its residents. A few ways in which this is accomplished is through the upkeep of county roads as well as the upkeep of traffic signals. There was a traffic signal activation ceremony conducted a few days ago at the intersection of County Route 40A (Memorial Drive) and Evergreen Avenue in the Boroughs of Neptune City and Bradley Beach.  The Activation Ceremony marked the completion of this much anticipated project.  As liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering, I am happy to have been able to be a part of it from its inception through fruition.

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Freeholders Address Marlboro Traffic

Freeholder Tom Arnone, Director Lillian Burry, Deputy Director Gary Rich and Freeholder Serena DiMaso. file photo

MARLBORO, NJ – Monmouth County’s Department of Public Works and Engineering is working to address traffic concerns on Newman Springs Road (CR 520), at the intersections of State Route 79 and Wyncrest Road.

“The intersection of Route 79 and CR 520 is operated by the State, but since CR 520 is a County road, I have asked the County’s engineering staff to study the traffic at the State controlled intersection,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Gary J. Rich, Sr. “The County Engineer has sent a letter to the State detailing the results of their studies and suggested improvements.”

The letter requests that the NJ DOT perform an evaluation of current traffic conditions and implement measures to improve traffic flow and safety at the intersection.

“Currently, there is no lead left turn signal onto CR 520,” said Thomas A. Arnone, liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering. “This causes traffic delays during peak travel times as drivers attempt to turn left onto CR 520 from State Route 79. We are seeking relief for our motorists.”

A second intersection in Marlboro currently being reviewed by the County is CR 520 at Wyncrest Road.

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Attention County Workers: The Freeholder Meeting is not in Fair Haven!

CWA Local 1075 is calling on Monmouth County workers to gather in Fair Haven on Tuesday evening to protest for a fair contract.

Contract negotiations have been going on for two years, according to the CWA 1075 website, and County workers have had enough.

Here’s the problem:  The Freeholders are meeting at the Hall of Records in Freehold.

I was going to write a snarky post making fun of the union for sending their members to the wrong location, but after verifying that the meeting is in Freehold with Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Freeholder Tom Arnone, they both asked me to get the word out that the Freeholders want to hear from the membership.  They have moved the meeting to Judge Cleary’s Court Room in order to accommodate the larger than usual crowd that is expected.

The meeting was moved back to Freehold weeks ago. Where the communication breakdown happened is unknown.

So share this post and spread the word….the Freeholder Meeting is on Tuesday September 23, not on its usual Thursday night because of Rosh Hashanah, and the meeting has been moved to larger quarters, Judge Cleary’s Court Room , 1 East Main St, in Freehold.

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The Arnone Report

By Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone

Freeholder Tom Arone

Recently a Mayor’s Luncheon was held in Belmar for the purpose of giving Belmar businesses a forum to meet and discuss tourism and how it benefits businesses at the Jersey Shore. I was happy to attend and join Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty in greeting the local business owners and to share with them what the County Tourism Division does to promote the industry. The luncheon was held at Ollie Klein’s Waterside Café located on River Road in Belmar.

Additionally, we are currently working toward entering into a shared services agreement with Hightstown to utilize the Monmouth County Vehicle Wash facilities. This is yet another approach to help reduce costs and redundancies in the delivery of public services, while adding some additional revenue for the county to help offset our operational costs. Because Hightstown already has a shared services agreement with Roosevelt Borough for trash collection which is hauled to the Monmouth County Reclamation Center, it makes good sense for them to utilize the county vehicle wash facilities as a value added shared services while they are in the area. Howell Township has just been added to our MODIV property tax assessment shared services system. This system has been recognized for innovation and excellence in public service by the Harvard Kennedy School and Moody’s Investor’s Service for its role in streamlining the delivery and implementation of the tax assessment process. Certain municipalities have seen savings of up to 65% through this shared service.

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Christie: Shark River Dredging Delayed By County and Municipalities

Beck: Federal and State Agencies Haven’t Approved Drying Sites

Governor Chris Christie told his Town Hall gathering in Belmar yesterday afternoon that the dredging of Shark River is being held up because the municipalities along the river and Monmouth County can not agree on a destination for the dredge spoils to be dumped.

The issue has gathered increased public attention in recent months due to a massive fish kill in the river last May.  310 tons of dead fish were removed from the shoreline of the estuary that feeds into the Atlantic through the inlet between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea and extents 11 miles through Neptune and Wall Townships.

In answering a question from a man who identified himself as Bob from Wall, Christie said that he supports the dredging, fought for money from FEMA to pay for the dredging and would impose a solution on the county and municipalities if he had the authority to do so.  He said he had been briefed on the issue three weeks ago.

Maybe the Governor remembered a briefing from a different dredging project when answering Bob’s question.

Both the Monmouth County and Neptune landfills are willing to take the dredge spoils, according to Senator Jennifer Beck.  The river hasn’t been dredged, Beck said in a phone interview last night, because over the last two decades various federal and state agencies have rejected every proposed location for the dredged materials to dry before being moved to their final disposal site.

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The Arnone Report

Progess in Tourism, Share Services, Infrastructure and Economic Development

By Freeholder Tom Arnone

Freeholder Tom Arone

The Belmar Seafood Festival was a huge success and the County enjoyed having the opportunity to show its presence over the three day weekend. It was estimated that crowds exceeded 150,000 over the three day weekend and as liaison to the Department of Tourism, I was happy to have had the opportunity to speak with so many individuals. On July 4^th, Monmouth County Public Information and Tourism will have a booth at Oceanfest on the boardwalk in Long Branch. The booth will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. All are encouraged to attend and join in the celebration that will end at 10 p.m. with an evening of spectacular fireworks.

The most recent meeting of The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders was hosted and held in Asbury Park. Monmouth County’s Department of Public Works and Engineering has been performing vehicle preventative maintenance and repairs for Asbury Park’s fire trucks and emergency vehicles at a cost savings of 40% to the City’s taxpayers. While the Division of Highway has been assisting the local municipalities with sediment removal projects to enhance water quality and reduce flooding.

Additionally, as the Freeholder representative to the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and Freeholder Liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering, I am pleased to report that in the next few weeks, the County expects to receive a federal grant for $10.5 million for the reconstruction of Bridge O-10 on Sunset Avenue over Deal Lake between the City of Asbury Park and the Township of Ocean.

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All Aboard! Take the train to the beach

Dinah blow your horn!  NJ Transit offering express trains to Monmouth County beaches

Starting Saturday June 28, New York and Northern Jersey day trippers will have an alternative to the Garden State Parkway for getting to the beach in Monmouth County.

Freeholder Tom Arnone announced today that NJ Transit is offering express train service to Monmouth County on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, starting tomorrow and continuing through September 1.

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The Arnone Report: Keeping our roads safe and affordable

By Freeholder Tom Arnone

Freeholder Tom Arone

TRAFFIC SIGNALS are of great significance in that they help to control the flow of traffic as well as helping to ensure the safety of our residents. Recently, there was a traffic signal activation ceremony held on the corner of Locust Avenue and Parker Roadin the Borough of West Long Branch. This project came about as a result of Mayor Tucci requesting that the County study this intersection to allow better traffic flow from Parker Road onto County Route 15 (Locust Avenue) and to improve safety and access for the Frank Antonides Middle School and the West Long Branch Community Center. Based on the County’s study our in-house County engineers designed this state of the art traffic signal which has dedicated turn lanes, improved crosswalks and push-button control pedestrian signals. The traffic signal uses LED lights that costs less to operate and is eco-friendly.

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