Tag Archives: Middletown

Crime

Attorney General: Rumson Printer Banned as Vendor of Prescription Blanks

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The following is a press release from the NJ Office of the Attorney General:

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs has terminated Rumson-based Nelson Press printing company’s authorization to act as a printer/vendor of prescription blanks.

The Division found the company’s failure to follow security requirements enabled a suspended doctor to allegedly obtain and write unauthorized prescriptions in another physician’s name for oxycodone and other potentially addictive painkillers.

The suspended doctor, Kenneth Lewandowski, of Middletown, was arrested in December 2014 by detectives from the Middletown Township Police Department working with investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Division of Consumer Affairs. Lewandowski was charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, forgery, and unlawful practice of medicine, for his alleged role in running a prescription drug ring.

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News

Slowed Travel: Oceanic Bridge Repairs to Begin

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The following is an edited  press release from Monmouth County:

Oceanic Bridge repairs are scheduled  to start on Monday morning with an estimated completion date of mid-April; and, with them traffic delays are anticipated with scheduled lane and overnight full bridge closures,

The drawbridge, which spans the Navesink River between Rumson and Middletown, will undergo repair work to its structural steel and concrete deck beginning about 9 a.m..

To complete the work and keep the bridge open to traffic during peak traffic hours, the county has developed a staggered schedule to coordinate repairs with corresponding lane closures and fully operational and closed times.

Single lane closures during the mid-day and early evening hours will facilitate vehicular and pedestrian traffic. A full overnight closure will also be in place from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The schedule for fully operational times, lane closures and full closure is as follows:
• 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., both bridge lanes open to all traffic;
• 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. , single lane closure with alternating lanes of vehicular traffic;
• 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., both bridge lanes open to all traffic;
• 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., single lane closure with alternating lanes of vehicular traffic;
• and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. , bridge closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic

For marine traffic, seasonal rules and scheduling will be in effect.

“This work must be done to keep the Oceanic Bridge in working condition during its regular operating season,” said Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone, liaison to the County’s Department of Public Works and Engineering in the release. “We appreciate the patience of the travelling public while we work to keep the bridge operational and get the necessary work completed.”

The staggered times will allow contractor George Harms Construction Co., Inc,. of Howell, to perform the required work above and below the bridge deck.

Motorists may want to plan an alternate route.

Motor vehicle traffic on Bingham Avenue between Rumson and Middletown should travel east and north through Sea Bright and Highlands to Middletown.

Motor vehicle traffic on Navesink River Road and Locust Point Road in Middletown should travel east and south through Middletown, Highlands and Sea Bright to Rumson.

News

Oceanic Bridge Revamp Study Granted Funds; Precursor to Revamp

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On the heels of what was a major, albeit bandaid, fix to a portion of the corroding Oceanic Bridge, Monmouth County officials have gotten a boost via state funding to undertake the appropriate studies to rehabilitate or replace the entire structure.

The 2016 $600,000 “concept development study” of the county-owned 2,712 foot Oceanic span between Rumson and Middletown over the Navesink River was one of five approved last week by the New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA).

The drawbridge, built in 1939, has been targeted as one in need of replacement and/or major revamp for several years now. In 2012, major repairs to the 98-foot bascule span, or moveable drawbridge part, of the bridge was refurbished.

But, even then, officials said that that was only a temporary fix. A permanent solution, they had said, was the only answer.

Options for rehab and/or replacement have been bandied about. But, for years now, there has been a large contingent of people adamantly opposed to replacement with a fixed, higher structure. The opposition to that slightly cheaper plan have felt it would be an injustice to bridge’s historic integrity and make it more difficult to be used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

The bridge’s capacity to carry its maximum load of vehicles, too, has consistently diminished with its age and consequential deterioration from wear and tear and salt water submersion.

So, the need for a permanent plan has become more imminent and potentially costly, county officials have said.

As a result of the fiscal year 2016 NJTPA program grant, the door will be open for construction costs to be covered by federal funds.

News

W. Front Street Bridge to Close After New Year

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By Elaine Van Develde

It was not that long ago when Monmouth County officials told people to brace themselves for a four-month West Front Street Bridge closing starting Jan. 2. Now, they’re saying it the closing will happen “on or about Jan. 5,” but they’re still promising it will reopen before Memorial Day.

In fact, the target reopening date has been set for May 17; and, the last phase of the bridge replacement project “is on schedule to open before Memorial Day weekend,” Freeholder Thomas Arnone, liaison to the county Department of Public Works and Engineering, said in a release.

While, according to the release, pedestrian access, including dismounted walking bicyclists, will be open throughout the closure, drivers will need to plan alternate routes.

Detours will funneling traffic from Red Bank “north on Rector Place to Route 35 and across Cooper’s Bridge and then onto Navesink River Road to Hubbard Avenue,” the release said.

Toward Red Bank, traveling east, detours will guide traffic “from West Front Street in Middletown will be directed north on Hubbard Avenue to Navesink River Road to Route 35 and across Coopers Bridge to Rector Place,” it added.

Traffic congestion and travel delays are anticipated.

What to expect with the new bridge …

• The new span over the Swimming River between Red Bank and Middletown will be 480 feet long and 44 feet wide with two 12-foot travel lanes, six-foot sidewalks on both sides and four-foot shoulders;

• There will be nine feet of vertical clearance above mean high water elevation and roughly 72 feet of horizontal clearance within the navigable channel of the Swimming River;

• Architectural enhancements include ornamental lights and a decorative recessed brick panel parapet with a decorative ball and cap railing, similar to Coopers Bridge;

• Additional improvements will include roadway widening at the bridge entrances, improved storm water drainage, ADA accessible route, highway lighting and new guide rail treatments.

The West Front Street Bridge, or Hubbard’s Bridge, was built in 1921. It was constructed as a six span, stringer structure with a steel open grid deck.

 

News

Detour: W. Front Street Bridge to Close

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By Elaine Van Develde

People in the area knew it was coming — a four-month West Front Street Bridge closure.

But, right now, with plans long in the works to replace the bridge, which spans from Red Bank to Middletown, Monmouth County officials today announced that there would be intermittent lane closures in the area in preparation of what has now been determined to be a Jan. 2 shut-down of the span.

Until that closure, county officials announced in a release, “there will be intermittent lane closures between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Hubbard Avenue and other roads on the Middletown side” of the 92-year-old bridge.

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