Your Turn
Lloyd Stone
Guest Column
Resident hopeful 2 towns
will address safety issues

Hawkins Road peninsula? Hawkins Road is not a peninsula. "It is not surrounded by water," Ben Weiner, a Manalapan resident, explained to me after last week’s Marlboro Township Council meeting. He is right. Hawkins Road is not surrounded by water, but it feels like a peninsula to me. In fact, it actually is a no-outlet street.

Using it is the only way to get to and from six other no-outlet (dead-end) streets within the "peninsula." The Hawkins Road peninsula is a dangerous area within the intertownship community of Marlboro and Manalapan where more than 500 residents live in at least 125 homes. I just think it is easier to understand the urgent need for safety improvements by referring to it as a "peninsula."

Will listening lead to caring and expedient action?

Stage One: We got our point across. The Manalapan Township Committee was listening. Led by Deputy Mayor Rebecca Aaronson, the Township Committee agreed to represent the best interest of the Hawkins peninsula residents in the name of safety and a better quality of life at the Dec. 3 Township Committee meeting.

I addressed the Marlboro governing body on Dec. 11. There was no finger pointing or criticism of previous decision-makers. It was obvious to me that Deputy Mayor Aaronson’s presence next to other Manalapan residents at that meeting had a positive impact on the Marlboro council. The council noticed and was listening.

Marlboro Administrator Chris Marion directed a few remarks to Deputy Mayor Aaronson after Annette Piazza’s "Hawkins Road Safety challenge is unique…" comments, pledging Marlboro’s cooperation.

Marion confirmed that Manalapan Mayor Drew Shapiro contacted him and that a meeting including the township engineers was being scheduled. He stated that these multiple safety issues each have merit and shall be addressed.

So, stage one of this process has been successful. The problems have been identified and our representatives have listened and responded (on the record) that they will address the safety concerns of the dual communities of Manalapan and Marlboro. Thank you. There is a long way to go. We will be watching and waiting impatiently.

Stage two will focus on the involvement of the township administrations. Mayor Shapiro asked Manalapan-Englishtown school board vice president and non-Hawkins Road peninsula resident Tony Manisero to participate in the process and he eagerly agreed to do so.

Evaluations of the engineers and the application for a pedestrian safety grant will also occur. According to the Manalapan engineer, the Depart-ment of Transpor-tation looks favorably at joint efforts between towns. Hopefully, a set of options for a sidewalk on Hawkins Road from Union Hill Road to the existing Manalapan sidewalk, an emergency outlet/egress gravel road and the Hawkins Park resurrection will be established.

Future stages shall include evaluating the options, procuring the funding and finally instituting the very important safety improvements.

I am a realist. There is a long way to go. So far, so good. I am cautiously optimistic, but a premature celebration is inappropriate.

I encourage all of the Manalapan and Marlboro representatives regardless of political affiliation, in the name of the well deserved safety of children of all ages and adults alike, to seize this opportunity to work together with Marlboro Mayor-elect Robert Kleinberg and Mayor Shapiro. Use the common denominator of this Hawkins Road peninsula safety challenge to blaze a trail of cooperation. Together transcend this critical safety issue and bring about a better quality of life for residents of both Marlboro and Manalapan.

As Yogi might say (when Hawkins Road is blocked again...), "You can’t get there from here" and "You can’t get here from there either!"

Lloyd Stone is a resident of Manalapan.