Politics & Government
County Plans Next Leg of Barnegat Branch Trail
Freeholders expect to award contract soon for 1.5 mile stretch from Waretown to Oyster Creek
The next phase of the is in the works, according to count officials.
The fourth stretch of the linear park, eventually expected to run for more than 15 miles from Barnegat to Toms River, will complete the link from Wells Mills Road in Waretown to Bay Parkway just south of the Oyster Creek, according to Freeholder James F. Lacey.
Construction on the 1.5-mile stretch, which will stop just short of the Lacey Township border, is expected to begin next summer.
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The freeholders are expected to award a contract for that part of the work to M.L. Ruberton Construction of Hammonton for $447,044 this week.
Once that work is done, the trail will stretch just over 4.5 miles, from Burr Street in Barnegat to the Oyster Creek.
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A two-mile section of the trail in Berkeley Township was opened in early July. That portion extends from William Dudley Park to Maryland Avenue in Berkeley, and while it's not contiguous with the southern part of the trail yet, future construction will eventually link the various sections.
The county paid $750,000 for the old Central Railroad of New Jersey property in 2007, and besides planning and design, most of the costs of trail project has been supported by grants, Freeholder Lacey said last month.
Ahead lies the political minefield in Lacey Township, where opinion is divided over whether to use the old Central Railroad of New Jersey Barnegat Branch right of way for a road or the rail trail.
