Group says no approved plan ever included rail line
I am the president of the Battlefield Restoration and Archaeological Volunteer Organization (BRAVO) and the volunteer archaeologist at Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Manalapan.

I have written to Monmouth County Administrator Robert M. Czech on behalf of the members of BRAVO who have been excavating the battlefield for the past 21 years.

I am responding to the July 16, 2008, article in the News Transcript, "County Standing Firm in Support of Rail Line."

As a matter of record, the members of BRAVO oppose the use of the existing rail line for commuter traffic. I, as a longtime resident of Freehold, am personally opposed to this plan. I would like to address the issues that Mr. Czech stated in the article as follows:

• The railroad was installed for agricultural transport and was used for troop movements to Camp Vredenburgh. However, the volume of train traffic was around two trains per week, not 40 trains per day. Slowmoving steam locomotives were used, not high-speed diesels.

• Having the railroad part of the landscape was never part of the park master plan. Because it is there does not make it right. Removing the existing tracks would be more historically accurate.

• Apparently Mr. Czech has not visited Monmouth Battlefield State Park recently. The current rail line is very visible from the visitors center.

• The rail line will not increase visitation. There is no easy way for visitors to get from the railway station in downtown Freehold to the visitors center except taxi. This is expensive.

• On what basis does Mr. Czech claim that the proposed internal loop road will disturb "important archaeological sites such as the hedgerow, the Parsonage farm and the 'path of armies' through the 'Point of Woods,' to name a few"? Is he a qualified archaeologist?

As a matter of record, the pathway will not "disturb" any archaeological site. The proposed tour road will primarily follow existing heavily disturbed service roads/farm lanes. Areas deviating from the existing pathways will have soil separation cloth placed down first and then the macadam surface placed over the top. This will encapsulate any potential archaeological remains that we have not already excavated and preserve the site for future archaeology.

The current dirt lanes are more damaged by farm, service and police vehicles that must use them today without having a macadam surface. The Parsonage and Hedgerow sites are severely worn by the pick-your-own orchard traffic. Adding macadam would substantially help preserve these sites.

• At present a number of walking and equestrian trails parallel and cross the existing tracks. Having over 40 trains a day including weekend trains travel through the park at high speed will represent a significant safety problem. The net result will be a decrease in this population that currently enjoy riding or walking through this section of the park.

• Mr. Czech cites the Monmouth Battlefield National Landmark Planning Guide prepared in 1996 by the then-president of the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield, one Richard Walling. This was never approved by the Division of Parks and Forestry.

We take issue with the credibility of the author of that document, who appears to have had his own agenda. I refer to the July 20 article in the Asbury Park Press titled "Ex-Councilman Jailed for Stealing Monmouth Battlefield Funds."

Walling was sentenced to 364 days in jail for violating his probation in connection with his theft of $32,500 from the Friends. This is the same Richard Walling who, in 2005, pleaded guilty in another case for sending 17 "sexual and annoying" text messages to a 17- year-old student in his history class.

I suggest that Mr. Czech check with the current membership of the Friends to determine their present views of the proposed railroad corridor. I understand that they are adamantly opposed to daily running 44 high-speed trains through an open cut on the battlefield. In 1993, a State Park Service planning document stated: "This 1852 railroad is the major intrusion on the 1778 cultural landscape."

There is an alternative solution that would serve both the park and the need for traffic flow. Put the railroad tracks and Route 522 underground. This was just successfully done in Trenton with the Route 29 tunnel. This would allow the park to present the battlefield accurately and, more importantly, safely.

Visitors could cross over the top of the highway and railroad line without fear or visual obstruction. The volume of traffic on 522 since the Freehold Raceway Mall has opened has increased to the point that it is dangerous trying to cross the road.

Every year hundreds of Scouts walk from Quail Hill Boy Scout Camp through Monmouth Battlefield along a designated course in order to receive a badge. They typically travel as a group of one or more troops. They must cross Route 522 to follow the course. This is a major accident waiting to happen.

Placing the tracks underground is the safest and most unobtrusive way to have the transportation corridor through the park. This is the only way for the railroad and the park to coexist.
Daniel M. Sivilich
President
Battlefield Restoration
and Archaeological
Volunteer Organization
Freehold