ET Road work projects procede; park parking lot problem

By Coleen Burnett
Eatontown — At the regular June 9 Borough Council meeting, officials announced that several road projects that have been on their docket since last year are now close to completion.
After previous discussions on whether or not they were an effective speed deterrent, the decision was made to once again install speed bumps on Lewis Street. The project is now completed, and residents will soon notice the new striping that has been laid out.
Harrington Court and the Copperfield Court cul-de-sac is being repaved as well, with work scheduled to be completed by the time you read this.

Locust Avenue is also being redone, and Borough Administrator George Jackson urged both residents and motorists to have some patience when trying to get around the area, pointing out that the project there is not just a simple repaving.
“They are installing new curbing and an entirely new roadway”, he told council members, “We know they are being inconvenienced. This is a substantial replacement.”

The other issue brought up was parking — specifically at Wampum Park. The park is located off Route 35, between Lewis Street and Tinton Avenue, and has two parking lots to the north and south of West Street.

The state Department of Environmental Protection conducted an inspection of the area and noticed that people are parking in the northern lot but not using the park. It seems the spaces are occupied by those who own, work or patronize nearby businesses.
The park was built with state Green Acres funding, and there are restrictions in place that state the northern portion of the lot must be used for those patronizing the park. The southern portion is owned by the borough and has no such restrictions.

Council voted to draft an ordinance restricting parking in the lot, with a public hearing to be held later in the month. Jackson urged the council not to think in terms of a time limit to park, but to frame the ordinance in such a way so that it is clear that parking is to be reserved for patrons of the park only.

Mayor Gerald Tarantolo agreed with the idea. ”I think an ordinance is reasonable. This is one way of finding a solution to the problem,” he said. “When we purchased the property we recognized that this might happen.”