MANCHESTER – The Township Council is siding with a local senior community about the need for a change on one of the township’s busiest roads.
The Manchester Township Council passed a resolution supporting the creation of a left-turn lane on Route 70 at the intersection of Roosevelt City Road into Cedar Glen Lakes. The main entrance into this 1,300-resident senior citizen community is at that intersection, just west of the intersection at Route 539.
The resolution states Route 70 is a two-lane, heavily traveled road, with most Cedar Glen Lakes residents returning home via Route 70. There have been a number of rear-end collisions in both directions.
The Cedar Glen Lakes Board of Trustees reached out to the Township Council to address the issue. In turn, the resolution passed at the most recent meeting will be forwarded to Gov. Chris Christie, the 9th, 10th, and 30th legislative districts, the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Ocean County Freeholders.
Route 70 is a 60-mile main east-west road stretching from Wall Township in Monmouth County to Pennsauken Township in Camden County. Because it spans multiple towns and counties, it is a state road. Any improvements must be approved and completed by the state.
“Over the past few years there have been a number of accidents at the intersection of Route 70 and Roosevelt City Road in Whiting. Roosevelt City Road is the main entrance into Cedar Glen Lakes, one of our larger retirement communities in the western part of the town,” council president Sam Fusaro explained. “The majority of traffic entering County Glen Lakes comes from the east, heading west of 70 just past the 70/539 intersection.”
Route 70 in all of Manchester is a two-lane highway.
“A number of residents waiting to make the left-hand turn into County Glen Lakes have been rear ended as they waited for east bound traffic to pass. Some of these cars were pushed into the oncoming traffic, worsening the magnitude of the collision,” Fusaro said.
He continued: “The trustees at County Glen Lakes contacted council informing us they have contacted state officials seeking a left turn lane be included at the intersection and asking if we would support the effort. Given the past events the council believes this improvement is clearly needed and passed the resolution to help achieve the needed improvement.”
Council members said they will keep the public appraised of the progress on this request to the state.
