def #13 01/28/09
OCEAN COUNTY TO RECEIVE GRANT FOR RAIL TRAIL CONSTRUCTION
TOMS RIVER – Ocean County has been selected to receive a $313,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of
Transportation to construct the third section of the Barnegat Branch Trail, a unique 15.6-mile linear park that starts in
Barnegat Township and will run to Toms River.
“This is great news,” said Freeholder James F. Lacey, who has spearheaded the project. “We are very pleased to receive
word that we will be getting this funding. We look forward to working on the design and moving ahead with constructing
this portion of the park.”
The County submitted a grant application to the state Department of Transportation last year seeking $313,430 for
construction of the third phase of the trail, which will be broken into two projects including 1.3 miles from
Dudley Park/Cedar Creek to Serpentine Drive in Berkeley Township and the remainder of the segment running through Ocean
Township.
“There has been a great deal of coordination between the county project team which includes staff from planning,
engineering and parks and recreation and Berkeley Township in order to finalize designs for the trail alignment,” Lacey
noted. “We expect we will go out to bid for the Berkeley Township segment during the fall of 2009.”
By this spring however, walkers, bicyclists, joggers and the like will be able to enjoy the first three miles of Ocean
County’s linear park that follows the tracks of what was once the Central New Jersey Railroad line.
The first section was completed in 2008 while the construction got underway for the second phase.
The first phase of construction ran from Burr Street in Barnegat Township to Pancoast Road in Ocean Township (Waretown).
“Work is now underway on the second phase of the trail,” Lacey noted. “We expect this section to be completed by the
spring of 2009.”
The county also expects to seek bids for the remainder of the Ocean Township segment in the fall of 2009. That section
will run from Wells Mills Road (Route 532) to the township boundary at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant.
“Some portions of the trail may be completed before others,” Lacey said. “We are addressing each area so that we can
provide the best design that would bring the most benefits to an area.”
Way finding and informational signs also will be installed by the spring.
The freeholders last year awarded a contract to Highway Safety Systems Inc., of Hammonton, in the amount of $498,162. The
contractor also performed the work on the first phase of the trail.
The new section, about 1.1 miles, will travel from Pancoast Road to Wells Mills Road in Waretown.
“This trail is providing a place for leisure activities for our residents and visitors but it will also be a learning
experience as we show the history of this former rail line
through interpretive signs and exhibits,” said Freeholder Director John C. Bartlett Jr., who serves as liaison to the
Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation.
The county is using a $9,000 state grant to purchase interpretive and historical signs for the first two completed
sections.
“Each sign will highlight various aspects of the trail’s history as a railroad and the environmental features through
which it passes,” Lacey said.
