Ground Broken On Gov. Chris Christie Drive

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Ground was broken on the new Central Park of Morris County main access road on Monday, to be named Gov. Chris Christie Drive.

Gov. Chris Christie Drive will connect West Hanover Avenue to Central Avenue through the park, and will be one-third of a mile long. Officials are hopeful it will alleviate traffic in residential neighborhoods surrounding the parks.

“This is part of the reason why you want to raise your family here,’’ said Gov. Christie. “It’s places like this where you can bring your children for them to grow up in a surrounding that is as beautiful as this with the opportunities to compete and to share a special time with their family. That’s all a wonderful part of what it means to live in Morris County.’’

Christie served as a Freeholder before going on to serve as the United States Attorney for New Jersey and two-term Governor of New Jersey. He is just the fourth person to be elected governor from Morris County, and the first since 1893. The Christie family lives in Mendham Township, and has stayed there during his governorship.

Christie took time to thank his wife, Mary Pat, saying, "The things that I’ve been able to accomplish in my public life would not have been possible without the fact that for thirty-one years, we’ve had a partnership that I’ve really treasured and one that has made me a better person in addition to being a better public servant." (You can watch his full speech below.)

“We have a dual purpose today: We are marking the start of construction of a much needed new access road to Central Park of Morris County, and at the same time, we are marking the place in our county’s history of Governor Christie – who is a Morris County resident and one-time county freeholder,’’ Freeholder Director Doug Cabana said at the afternoon ceremony.

The $1.5 million construction project will begin soon and is expected to wrap up by mid-2018.

Images via Morris County Government