Changes in detour made

JACKSON - A detour along Route 571 that is carrying traffic into a residential area should end in about two weeks, Ocean County officials said.

The county is rebuilding Route 571 and has detoured some car traffic only onto Lakehurst Avenue, a residential street that runs parallel to the county road.

"We understand the concerns of local residents and are doing everything possible to complete this work in a timely manner," said Freeholder John P. Kelly, liaison to the Ocean County Engineer's Office.

Ocean County Engineer Ronald Lotrecchio said his staff is meeting with Jackson police twice a week to ensure the detour is operating in a safe and efficient manner.

"We're pushing our contractors to make sure they are out of there on time," Kelly said. "The police are patrolling the area and making sure all traffic obeys the detour routes. We're doing our best to make sure the detours are as safe and manageable as possible."

According to a press release from the county, originally, all northbound and southbound car traffic had been detoured onto Lakehurst Avenue.

However, the concerns of nearby residents prompted the county last week to direct all traffic onto a longer detour route through routes 547, 527 and 528.

"We found that the roads couldn't handle the volume of traffic," Lotrecchio said. "We had a lot of backups."

With the assistance of the Jackson police, southbound Route 571 traffic only is now directed onto the longer detour, while northbound car traffic will use Lakehurst Avenue.

The detour is in place between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Northbound and southbound car traffic can use Lakehurst Avenue at night and on weekends.

"Hopefully, this compromise will ease residents' concerns while allowing our contractor to finish the job on or before schedule," said Freeholder James F. Lacey, liaison to the Ocean County Road Department.

Lotrecchio said all trucks over 5 tons are required to use the longer detours onto routes 547, 527 and 528 at all times.

"The police are continuing to enforce the no truck ban," Lacey said. "Only smaller service trucks, delivery trucks and pickup trucks can access Lakehurst Avenue."

The detour is part of an ongoing $7 million project to improve Route 571.

Once all of the work is completed next spring, a 6-mile stretch of road from just west of the Manchester border through the Cassville section of Jackson will have been rebuilt and strengthened.

"Trucks have really taken their toll on this road," Lacey said "By the time we are done, the road will be stronger than ever and better able to stand up to truck traffic."