Speed should be lowered on Swimming River Road

The tranquillity of a recent Sunday morning was shattered by another accident here on Swimming River Road in Lincroft. This has become a regular occurrence on a road where residents say the speed limit is too high.

There is much wrong with the conditions on this road, a country road that has evolved into a major artery, which is carrying volumes of traffic at all times of the day, oftentimes at excessive speeds. The traffic includes trucks, buses and all the auto versions the are produced today. It’s a nightmare in a residential neighborhood. This has become accident alley and no one cares. If they do, they do nothing to correct problems.

The police and the county officials seem inept at doing anything to help correct a situation that has ruined the quality of life here. They seem to refuse to listen to any appeal from the residents here. I always said it would take a life to get them to listen. Now I ask, how many lives?

Lower the speed limit to 25 or 30 mph and enforce it. Restrict the traffic to autos and keep the trucks on Route 35, a commercial route, not a residential neighborhood. All residents are entitled to equal protection and a quality of life in their neighborhoods. The residents of Swimming River Road are treated as orphans, almost as if we don’t exist. We deserve and demand equal consideration.

It’s time for the township and county officials to come to grips with the real regional problem. Another road is needed to route traffic to the Red Bank and Route 35 corridor. Some real planning is needed. Progress cannot be stopped, but using wisdom and vision to provide the infrastructure to support the growth and development in this region is a critical issue.

Stop-gap measures that play into the emotional appeal of the moment never solve anything — they haven’t and they won’t. To date, the writer believes the future belongs to those who protest, ‘Enough already.’

Barbara R. Thorpe

Lincroft section of Middletown