CR 520 in 2009

Acme Road improvements:

The CR520 entrance to the Lincroft Grove shopping center, home of a professional building, Luigis and other stores, is known for problems with motorists making left turns into and out of the driveways.  We are happy to inform you that the County and Township have agreed to move forward on plans to improve the access road from Middletown-Lincroft Road to the Lincroft Acme. 

Current Acme Road conditions:

• One way exit that ends in a right turn only onto Middletown-Lincroft Road. 

• Not accessable by the Lincroft Grove patrons. 

The proposed improvements to the Acme road include

• Widening the road to two lanes

• Making the road 2-way

• Allowing all turns, both into and out of the road from both directions at its junction with Middletown-Lincroft Road. 

• The property owners between the Acme and Middletown-Lincroft Road, including those at the Lincroft Grove and the bank at the corner, would be permitted to extend their driveways to utilize the new road.

• Safety measures to reduce speeding and promote pedestrian access along the newly widened Acme road include building a sidewalk to the north of the road, installing speed bumps or stop signs and painting crosswalks. 

The Town would basically acquire the road from its current owner (the Acme) and would then make it a municipal road. The LVGA and Lincroft Task Force committees have been advocating for this improvement for many years.  Having a second entrance/exit point for the Lincroft Grove should drastically reduce the number of dangerous left turns that are now being made to access those parking lots.   Middletown Township is now looking into ways to fund these improvements.

Roundabout Proposals:

In March 2009 at the request of the LVGA, Michael Wallwork, an expert on traffic calming and roundabouts, and the designer of the Brookdale roundabout, presented a proposal to the Monmouth County Planning Board to turn the business district in Lincroft along CR520 into a design that incorporates a grassy medium, no left turns and three roundabouts.  All three traffic lights in the area would then be eliminated.  That proposal (2.66 MB) can be viewed here. Golden Colorado made similar improvements to their business district.  Read a paper here about those improvements and the economic impact on the area.

Although the proposal was well received, both Mayor Scharfenberger and County Engineer Ettore have expressed some reservations.  Those reservations included the cost of acquiring private property as well as a reluctance to utilize any designated Green Acre Property at the corner of Phalanx Rd and CR520.  However, the County Engineering Department was willing to further study the proposal if the Township of Middletown was willing to pay 1/2 the cost of the study.  The Middletown Township Committee, citing cost issues, decided that they could not help fund such a study, even though the study was desirable. 

The LVGA Board of Directors and Lincroft Task Force members realize that Mr. Wallwork's proposal is a 'vision of the future' and, although funding to study the complete proposal is not currently available, we hope that both the County and Township will consider the full proposal at a later date.  Many business districts have benefited by such a transformation as demonstrated on Mr. Wallwork's website:  www.roundabouts.net.

The LVGA has urged both the County and Township govenments to consider building a single roundabout at the Phalanx Rd-CR520 intersection.  Mr. Wallwork has assured us that Mr. Ettore's concerns about taking Green Acres land to build the roundabout could be avoided by simply moving the intersection a few feet west.  This would also minimize any land requirements from the Lincroft Inn Shopping Center.  Currently traffic backs up in all directions at Phalanx Rd and we feel that a roundabout at that location would eliminate the biggest 'bottleneck' of traffic along CR520 in Lincroft.  Mr. Wallwork's preliminary plans for a Phalanx roundabout can be seen here.

The County Route 520 roundabout at the entrance to Brookdale Community College received the 2008 Monmouth County Merit Award and is generally recognized as a significant improvement to the intersection.