by Rosetta Key

Officials with the State Department of Environmental Protection once again strike down the efforts of Lacey Township officials to build a 2.2 mile alternative roadway to Route 9 on the old Central Jersey railroad right-of-way.

On March 27th, State Urban Growth and Redevelopment officials with the Division of Land use Regulation, determined that there were feasible alternatives to the proposed road project and that the applicant failed to demonstrate the alternatives.

Helen Henderson, Chair of the Lacey Rail Trail Environmental Committee, a group that formed in 2000 aimed at stopping construction on the railroad right-of-way, says they on the other hand, provided the State D.E.P with a comprehensive analysis of the township's road application.

She says, "We think that the D.E.P. did a thorough review. You know, the findings were that the road is detrimental, that there are alternatives for traffic improvements and they justified the protection of open space."

Rail Trail Committee Founder and Secretary Donna Bahrley says "the township also could not prove that the traffic relief would warrant sacrificing this non-motorized transportation corridor the Barnegat Branch trail."

Meanwhile, Bahrley says she's been working with 9th District State legislators Senator Chris Connors, Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and Dan Van Pelt since 2001 on safety improvements to the busy Route 9/Lacey Road intersection. She says, "that project is coming to fruition within the next two years."

Rejection of the Township's application doesn't prohibit them from appealing the decision or even from applying a third time.

However, Bahrley says, "she's hoping the Township will finally recognize that after two denials and spending almost a million dollars on their second application, that the taxpayers are not going to be able to handle any more money spent on the project and that they work forward now toward preservation and hopefully donate the old rail bed to the County for the Barnegat Branch Trail or pursue conservation through other funding sources.

So does this spell the end of the Lacey Rail Trail Environmental Committee?

Committee officials give a resounding no. Henderson says "there's no resting in Lacey Township. We're going to continue to work tirelessly to make sure the railroad right-of-way is a safe, car free, county park from Barnegat all the way up through South Toms River.

Henderson says the Lacey Rail Trail was carved out by the former railroad tracks of the Central Jersey Rail Road that ran from Toms River to Barnegat from 1870 until the 1950's. She says the tracks were pulled up in the 1970's leaving a sandy tree-lined roadway that's been used by walkers and bikers for many years. Henderson says evidence of the old railroad light post can be seen in Waretown near the new Shoprite.