Route 70 Wawa Wants Brick To Revisit North Lake Shore Drive Access

BRICK, NJ — Five years ago, in the spring of 2017, the developers of the Wawa at Route 70 near Duquesne Boulevard went back to the drawing board to revise their plans after their application for the site was rejected by the Brick Township Board of Adjustment.

After some revisions, the amended application by Brick 70 Developers and Paramount Realty Group received approval from the zoning board in December 2017.

Among the revisions was the removal of a driveway that would have provided access to the site from North Lake Shore Drive. That access had been one of the most controversial pieces of the original application, with nearby residents concerned about the level of traffic that would be directed onto their street in Lake Riviera.

On Wednesday night, Brick 70 Developers is scheduled to be back before the zoning board, asking the board to take a new look at a proposal for a driveway at North Lake Shore Drive.

"To the extent that the Board has previously considered and denied a previous application for access onto North Lake Shore Drive, the Applicant seeks modification, reconsideration, and approval based upon changed circumstances and/or because the proposed access differs from any previously submitted and/or considered and/or adjudicated proposal," the public notice for the application says.

The amended application also would divide the Panera piece from the Wawa piece, into two separate properties, according to the public notice.

According to the proposed site plan, the new entrance/exit onto North Lake Shore Drive would be just beyond where North Lake Shore forks off from Duquesne Boulevard.

The application says the driveway onto North Lake Shore Drive would create "an additional, convenient access point to eliminate the need for customers to have to use Route 70 to travel south" — which is actually west, not south.

Currently, drivers who want to access Route 70 west have to either drive to the far end of the connected parking lots of the Costco shopping center to access the traffic signal at Shorrock Street and Route 70, or follow Route 70 east and turn around at one of the nearby shopping centers or intersections.

A review by Bright View Engineering raised a number of traffic concerns, particularly about the potential for large trucks to be using the proposed driveway at North Lake Shore Drive and also about traffic backing up at the light at Duquesne and Route 70.

The meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Brick Township municipal building, 401 Chambers Bridge Road. The application and documentation is available online.