NJ Natural Gas Mapping Lines On Freshly Paved Mantoloking Road

BRICK, NJ — Just weeks after the first paving of Mantoloking Road in a decade was completed, New Jersey Natural Gas crews are mapping out the existing lines.

That work does not involve a full-scale excavation of the road, a gas company spokesman said Monday afternoon.

"The mapping work is part of our routine, normal course maintenance, to periodically confirm and update the geographical locations of our infrastructure." said Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for New Jersey Resources, the parent company of New Jersey Natural Gas. "This typically involves small-scale digging — with openings no more than a few feet in length — along roadways, rights of way, etc."

The sight of flags and marks along Mantoloking Road was greeted with frustration on social media from residents in the area, who were annoyed the paving that had caused traffic disruptions in September could be damaged so soon after it was completed.

Thomas Curcio, director of the Ocean County Road Department, said the timing of the New Jersey Natural Gas mapping work was unfortunate but that the county could not delay the project further.

"We have put it off and put it off," Curcio said, saying the county held off while fiberoptic cable was being laid and while 1,800 feet of stormwater piping was install. "We just couldn't put it off anymore."

Though the county has put a two-year moratorium on planned utility work, Curcio said some work is unavoidable, especially when there's an emergency issue involved, such as a leak in a gas pipe.

Curcio said when a utility company has to dig up the pavement, they have to get a permit from the county engineering department, which monitors the work. Small spots are usually just patched but if the work requires a larger opening, the county may require paving from the curb to the centerline of the road.

Roberts said the work performed on Mantoloking Road Monday "is part of a longer-term project to locate and map existing facilities in the area."

"This information will be used for future system improvement projects," Roberts said, adding the gas company is coordinating with the county "to ensure any improvement work performed in the future is as consistent as possible with their engineering and road maintenance plans."

Curcio said the milling and paving work that was done for the stretch of Mantoloking Road from Old Hooper Avenue to the Adamston Road intersection cost $765,817.67 and used 8,000 tons of asphalt, much of which came from the Stavola plant in Brick.

Mantoloking Road last was paved in 2005, from Old Hooper to Burton Parkway, with the section from Burton Parkway to the Mantoloking Bridge paved in 2007, Curcio said. The portion from Adamston Road to the bridge was paved in 2016.

Curcio acknowledged the September paving was a frustration for everyone, including the county.

"We wanted to do the work at night," Curcio said, because the project moves along more quickly when workers are not contending with traffic. He said township officials balked at doing the work overnight, which was out of concern for residents in the immediate area.

After the traffic jams that caused excessive delays for both morning and evening commutes, officials met and reached compromises manage traffic while the work was being done.

"The center section was the biggest challenge," he said. "Milling is easy because you can drive on the road (after it's been milled)." With the paving, they were forced to shut down side streets and alternate traffic. The compromise of being able to pave at night made a difference in the speed of the work.

Curcio acknowledted it was a no-win situation, between aggravated residents and officials and having to pay overtime to block off side streets while they paved at night.

"We have to pay overtime at night," he said, adding they called in crews from all over the county to work traffic control.

"The only win was the paving job came out really nice," Curcio said.

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