Brick Route 70 Wawa Hearing To Resume Wednesday

BRICK, NJ — If you're one of many residents who've been waiting your turn to voice your concerns about a proposed Wawa at the corner of Route 70 and Duquesne Boulevard, your opportunity has arrived.

On Wednesday, March 22, the Brick Township Board of Adjustment is holding another speical meeting on the application by Brick 70 Developers and Paramount Realty Group to build a Wawa with 12 fuel pumps and a quick-service restaurant at the site.

Members of the public have been waiting through five meetings and at the March 8 meeting, finally got their opportunity to begin speaking out. But due to the late hour — residents finally got their turn at the microphone about 10:45 p.m. — and the number of people waiting to speak, Board Chairman Harvey Langer continued the hearing to this Wednesday.

Of the few residents who spoke March 8, the primary concern expressed was the potential impact of traffic.

"The traffic is already overwhelming," said Ken Fielder of Birch Bark Drive, who said he would prefer no access to the site from Lake Shore Drive. The initial proposal was for an entrance and exit onto North Lake Shore Drive, but due to concerns raised about traffic using North Lake Shore Drive as a cut-through, John Jackson, the attorney for Paramount Realty Group, said they would remove the exit option.

"I've lived in Brick for 13 years," Fielder said. "There's plenty of Wawas. I don't need a Wawa there."

Diane Dowlen of Winding Court also expressed concerns about the traffic, and said the connection from the Wawa to Shorrock Street at the far end of the existing Costco shopping center wouldn't really be an effective solution for those seeking to go west on Route 70. She said video she took while driving from the medical office parking lot to Shorrock showed it would take several minutes to traverse the lot — which would deter people from going that way and increase the likelihood of someone violating whatever was set in place at the Wawa site.

"The volume of traffic right now is insufferable," Dowlen said. "You have to sit through five (cycles of the) traffic lights to get out onto Route 70." In addition, motorists routinely ignore the fact that there is no right turn on red from Route 70 onto Duquesne Boulevard and use Duquesne to avoid traffic to get to Brick Plaza and Brick Boulevard. "No matter what time of day, it's just congested," she said.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Patch file photo