For what might seem like forever, Lakewood’s residents have been hearing of the promise of Route 9 being widened. Great visions of wide boulevards withmultiple lanes streaming traffic comfortably along with little or no delays has been sold to a willing – nay, eager – audience. My contemporaries, residents here for over 30 years, have grown weary of these predictions and promises. Make no mistake; everyone who talks about it has only the best intentions. However, getting there from here is another matter. We know it will take many hundreds of millions, if not more, to make this a reality. And that alone makes it a remote possibility at best. Perhaps it is time we develop some contingency plans and have other means of relieving some of the excessive burden on our roads, our drivers and our sanity.
Far be it from me to suggest that there is a single panacea to resolve the issues. Many engineers and millions of dollars will be involved in any serious effort to alleviate the situation. But I will be so bold as to suggest one idea: a bridge across Lake Carasaljo.
For the past 20 years or so, people have been migrating south of the lake and the population that daily winds its way to BMG and other points north is ever-growing. These people maintain the expense of additional vehicles for this mini-commute, struggle with parking in the highly congested BMG-GCU area, and generally contribute to so many traffic related ills within our town.
A bridge – a WALKING bridge – from some central point on South Lake Drive to the North side would allow many people to walk to Yeshiva or work, would open the possibility of mini-“park and walks” from the south playground area and various parking spots along the south lake area, and would reduce the unsustainable volume of vehicular traffic struggling to traverse Rt. 9, Central Ave, and the Forest Ave corridors to their destinations.
Granted, this will not resolve all the issues, but if this bridge reduced traffic by hundreds, or even a hundred, cars a day, would it not be a no-brainer? Now, I suspect the people living along South Lake Drive might not love this idea, but for the New England Village and other southern Lakewood residents, it could be a boon.
Worth some consideration, isn’t it? Now let the courts of public opinion accept or reject it, and if it has support, hopefully the town’s leaders will give it a serious look.
A prospective bridge walker
(TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to [email protected]).
a driving bridge is much better
i’m sorry but the town does not revolve around guys getting to seder. widening route 9 will not only help the entire township but also alleviate the congestion for those passing through lakewood…and there are many. to suggest that a bridge only used by a few hundred (or at most a thousand) people would justify the construction cost is ridiculous.
Please don’t bring more congestion to the south lake area. We have enough of our own. There is plenty of parking closer to BMG if people would only walk a few blocks.
I love this idea!!!!
bad idea
I’m sure the people on S Lake Dr really want a hundred cars parked on the road. Take Hope rd bridge It’s a mile away. There are better things to spend tax money on like more cops, K-9 units, ems and the fire dept. I don’t want to spend millions so you can save a few minutes driving around a beautiful lake. Why not drain the lake then and change the name of the town.
make a bridge from sunset on the south side straight into lakewood drive on the north side would cut traffic on the 9 by at least 1/3.
it should be built nice so that it is not an eyesore, will save $$$$$$$ and hundreds of hours of wasted time
First of all I think it would look ridiculous, and second of all a bridge is very expensive to build. I don’t think it’s a good idea at all. Maybe there ought to be a ferry.
As someone that lives on Central ave this has got to be the worst idea possible. I can just see all the cars of the “bridge walkers” parked on my “side street” I wold do anything to stop this.
What’s needed is a DRIVING bridge. What about an old-fashioned wooden bridge to preserve the feel of the area? It could connect South Lake Drive to Lakewood Avenue without disrupting the beach area.
great idea!
Are you really living here 30 years??? there are already 3 walkways over the lake where it gets narrow that is used all the time just fyi. and do you want to take one of that last few natural areas that we have not yet destroyed and destroy it?
There are people in this town who would love to drain the lake and build more condos, but then we would need more infrastructure, a paid FD, more PD, more DPW , a bigger BD of ED budget and the raising of taxes, which would bring people screaming NO! to town hall. What we do need is a planning board which somehow can find the ability to say NO and the politicians who have a spine to back them up.
current status is unacceptable!!!
I have a better idea… why not drain the lake and build more housing… we could probably get more people in that area then in Westgate! Has anyone heard of the word “esthetics”?
How about a passenger train from lakewood to new york – this will save us working guys commuting everyday to new york lots of aggravation – sounds like a much better idea !
Both the OP and the comments show, with one or two exceptions, that most people have very little understanding of a whole host of issues. First, there is the issue of feasibility. Would DEP allow it? Second, financing. Who would pay for it? Who would maintain it? As anyone living near the lake knows the boardwalk areas are in constant need of repair. Third, security. You are talking about a bridge span of over 150 feet at a minimum from one dark shore area to another, across a darkened stretch of water. How would you deal with this? lights? patrols? Lights would ruin the natural beauty of the lake, disturb the neighbors who live nearby and cost another fortune to install and maintain. Patrolling means dedicating more police manpower to a very small specific location 24/7/365. Traffic and congestion would just be shifted from a commercial area to a residential area, ruining the quality of life for people on both sides of the lake.
I tend to agree somewhat to those who advocate a bridge for vehicles. This may sound crazy because of the cost and the aesthetic issues, but there are mitigating factors: For the extra cost you get a structure that should have a much longer useful life before major repairs of replacement is needed. You also get a far better solution in terms of avoiding vehicles parking in the whole south lake area, while avoiding route 9. Security and policing are much easier as patrol cars can traverse the area easily and lighting is much easier to install, power and maintain as a component of the bridge construction.
On the aesthetic side, as someone suggested, a bridge can be built beautifully. I would suggest a design that mimics the bridge at GCU (Georgian Court U.) with a brick finish and architectural columns topped with spherical lights. OK, OK, this is just dreaming, but at least its a well thought-out dream.
What always mystifies me is why the State didn’t widen Route 9 as it passes the lake when they did the last big project there. They widened the lanes and added a shoulder, but the area they disturbed would have accomodated a wider road bed that could have support two lanes in both directions with just a bit more work. I think they could have and should have straightened out the bend as you approach the Central Avenue intersection as well.
The problem remains that, until you widen Route 9 right down to the Parkway entrance South of Route 571, you’re going to have a choke point somewhere.
You are all living in a dream world. It will end in a nightmere
I think they should build a tunnel network under town with exits on Central & Sunset, Route 9 & Oak, Chestnut & New Hampshire, Forest & Sixth, County Line & Hope Chapel.
The likelihood of building a bridge across the lake is even less than the chances of them widening the Nine.
The only solution is a driving bridge.
We simply don’t have enough roads to get from North to South and vice versa.
Having just Rt 9 and Hope Rd to handle all of Lakewood’s traffic is impossible.
I am sure that the North Lake Dr and South Lake Drive residents will be very upset about it, but we need to start thinking about the whole town, not just the people who would lose their little quiet oasis.
What is going on now is simply not sustainable.
As an old-time Lakewooder, I had this idea years ago. However, I heard that it had been brought up, but “they” couldn’t do it for reasons unknown.
I also had another great idea: MOVE TO SOMEWHERE ELSE OTHER THAN LAKEWOOD!!!
For starters anyone who wants to move out of New York to rural NJ should think of starting a new community somewhere other than Lakewood, not even nearby. And make sure there’s a big enough highway there too!
What’s with the proving you’re human question below? What if I just can’t add or subtract? Does that render me inhuman?
Ruining the beauty of the lake is not just a problem for the south lake residents. The lake is a beautiful place enjoyed by everyone in Lakewood. Even a beautiful bridge would be an eyesore on this absolutely lovely lake. One of the reasons people came from NY and elswhere is because of the beauty of our town. If you want to change Lakewood into an ugly urban area (which is already happeining with the disgusting developments) then just stay back in the other urban areas and KEEP LAKEWOOD BEAUTIFUL while there’s still time.
It’s an idea but here is another one. Maybe BMG can build some satellite campuses to the South and West of the City. This way thousands of people will not have to “struggle to traverse Rt. 9, Central Ave, and the Forest Ave corridors to their destinations.”
We can blame developers all we want for congesting this city and you are certainly correct about the fact that there is too much traffic. But ultimately it is a problem that every single building of BMG is located in one tiny (overdeveloped) area of town.
Why not finish building Vermont Ave from Cedar Bridge until Rt 70. Vine Street should also be fixed up to handle traffic without having to stop every block.
There is no room for parking
South lake drive is not large enough to handle any congestion.
It would make it dangerous for all the people who walk, live, and play along the lake.
I live on Central Ave itself and see the congestion, and how much it has increased, and hate it, but ruining the lake, the park, the path, and south lake drive is not the answer.
Maybe we can move the current walking bridge on rt.9 a bit over further west toward the lake and continue the 2 lanes of traffic until at least past the lake…
There should be a bridge crossing Lake Shanandoh at Lexington or Monmouth ave Taking Traffic From Route 88 to Cedarbridge ave that would alleviate heavy clifton ave traffic
the bridge is almost done, just add another 15 feet to the boat dock that is there.
no no no no no no.
thanks for introducing the topic. great ideas flowing now. Here’s another:
A zipline from one side of the lake to the other. northbound and southbound traffic zipping by. never happen on route 9 🙂
subway system! 🙂
some real funny stuff here. a tunnel system was the cutest so far. number 26 makes the most sence though. the writer seems to suggest that if we could ease yisheva traffic it would help. being the case, if BMG would build a beautiul bais medrish across from lakewood car sales (in that run down building with a huge parking lot) it would solve so many problems. it woud also save alot of time for babysitting etc etc. it could even open up more business urther south.