Road project takes officials by surprise
BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer

HOLMDEL - The roadwork at the intersection of Van Schoick, Red Hill and Dwight roads came as a surprise to many residents last week, including all five members of the Township Committee.

As part of a project over five years in the works, the county-owned roadways are now being realigned to create a new intersection near Exit 114 of the Garden State Parkway.

"This project was stopped four years ago," Committeeman Terence Wall said to Township Engineer Edward Broberg of T&M Associates at Thursday night's meeting. "We retained an independent engineer to see if this project was needed because with all due respect, T&M was working for Middletown, Holmdel and the [New Jersey] Highway Authority."

Wall said Holmdel would suffer with additional traffic as a result of the construction while nearby Middletown will benefit with less traffic.

"I feel very strongly that Holmdel was sold out here," Wall said, adding, "You'll see an urbanization of that intersection. You'll see trees cut down blindly.

"All five elected officials knew nothing and just drove by and [were] like, oh, what's this project?" Wall said.

Wall added, "Frankly, I'm shocked that there has been no dialogue on this."

Also a consideration is the future of the Potter farm, located at the site of the future intersection. According to Wall, the county did not pay "old man Potter" what his farm was worth but rather, "pennies on the dollar." If the project continues, the farm will largely be lost.

"The project was never killed," Broberg said. "It was dormant while property acquisition issues were dealt with."

Broberg later added that he was not told when the project was going to start up again.

"It sounds fishy," Committeeman Rocco Pascucci said.

The committee discussed the possibility of having a stop-work order issued. Township Attorney Duane Davison said he would research the issue to see what can be done legally to stop construction.

Broberg warned the committee against issuing a stop-work order.

"There are tremendous impacts associated with stopping a major construction project mid-stream," Broberg said.