Jackson must preserve right to use road

The time: 200 years ago. The place: the village of Cassville, a Pinelands village that served as a crossroad for travelers. A stagecoach stop on the road from here to there. Just a few short years ago we called these roadways by the same names as our predecessors.

In those days the naming convention was north to south and west to east, by stops on the old stagecoach route. The names were Trenton-Cassville Road, Cassville-Toms River Road, and New Egypt-Cassville Road. Ironically, the only road in contrast to the original naming convention is also the only road which remains to this day unpaved and undeveloped; the only road which even remotely resembles its origins, Cassville-Prospertown Road, known to most as Prospertown Road. This dirt road on the north side of what is now West Veterans Highway has been a road of record since May 26, 1812.

Prospertown Road has survived virtually unchanged for almost two centuries. It has survived not only time, but fire and flood. And now, after all these years, it's under attack.

This piece of history is in danger of being altered to better fit in with the developer's concept of what they'd like this road to be. If Hovbilt Inc. has its way, this public right of way will be closed to vehicle traffic; its identity changed forever.

In this go-around Hovbilt has admitted there is historical value to the Cassville area, but they still do not want to admit that Prospertown Road itself has historical significance.

Instead of preserving it in its original context, they want to prohibit all vehicle traffic and limit it only to pedestrian traffic, cutting off the main thoroughfare be-tween West Veterans Highway and Collier's Mills Wildlife Man-agement Area.

A road used by hunters, horseback riders and just regular folk, this public right of way is in danger of being closed to all but those who want to trek in and out by foot. Prospertown Road provides the only access to the northeast section of the Collier's Mills Wild-life Management Area. This plan severs public access to this section of Collier's Mills by closing the public right of way to vehicles, thus interfering with the public's enjoyment of these state lands. Approval of this application will effectively limit usage of Prosper-town Road and change its history and purpose forever.

Public roads belong to the public! It's not up to developers to decide the fate of public roads. This property was purchased with full knowledge that it contained a public right of way. But now this public right of way has become an inconvenience to the developer, and while they ack-nowledge it, they propose to limit its usage. This old Pinelands trail has amazingly survived almost two centuries. Our town leaders should be entertaining ways to protect and preserve this old historic trail and the public's right to use and enjoy it.

The Hovbilt application has intentionally failed to recognize the public's right to use Prosper-town Road, and while they now recognize it as having historical significance, they still maintain it's a worthless drift of road.

The public right of way must be preserved with no limits on the mode of transportation. Prosper-town Road is a piece of Pinelands history that is worth preserving without limitation. Preserving the public's rights must be a priority to our elected officials, that is if they aspire to be elected again.

Janet Gearman

Jackson