Problem Tracks In Lakewood

Mary's Lane is a problem.

Wait — never heard of Mary's Lane?

It's a strip of blacktop between Princeton and Park avenues that juts out of Fourth Street just east of the Lakewood Community Center. The road — actually, it's a paved right of way — is sandwiched between the railroad tracks and a series of street ends.

The popular pathway is home to Foodex Supermarket, which draws a steady stream of cars as Orthodox Jewish residents prepare for Shabbos, the holy time from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Plus, the road makes a quick bypass of Princeton Avenue from Fourth to Seventh streets — unless you take that first turn too fast.

Drivers turning right from Fourth Street onto Mary's Lane have smacked into the railroad tracks — or, worse, climbed them only to get stuck like an inert caboose — in seemingly increasing numbers, said Township Committeeman Menashe Miller.

The problem is particularly bad at night, when drivers can't see where the blacktop ends and the tracks begin.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... 80431/1070

I assume this is the ex-CNJ Southern Division.

I also assume it's owned and operated by CSX.

Can anyone (e.g. OCTG) verify or confirm?

Thanks

Township leaders have publicly considered suing Conrail to get the rail company to put up curbing or signs.

But a Conrail spokesman said late Friday the line is owned by NJ Transit. An NJ Transit spokesman said they don't own the line, either.

Exactly who does own the rail line couldn't be determined Friday night.

Shows how much NJT customer service knows. I believe this is DOT/NJT ROW.

Drivers making a right from Fourth Street to Mary's Lane can take the turn too aggressively — in a hurry to get to the grocery store or wherever they're going — and not notice where the pavement drops off.

Shouldn't be driving that fast on a small, narrow backroad to begin with...

HAHHAA - NJT owns the line, Conrail operates over it....

....put a couple of reflector signs up (simple little yellow rectangles) along the ROW and maybe a guardrail - that should get them to stop hitting the tracks!

Jtgshu wrote:HAHHAA - NJT owns the line, Conrail operates over it....

....put a couple of reflector signs up (simple little yellow rectangles) along the ROW and maybe a guardrail - that should get them to stop hitting the tracks!

They drive like maniacs in Lakewood. They would just tear up the reflectors and take out the guardrail, then sue for damages done to their vehicles.

They state that Mary's Lane is not really a street but a paved section of the ROW. First off, who paved it? and second, who did the construction permits say (if they really had one to begin with) was the owner? I assume this piece of ground that is being used as a short cut to the grocery store, legally or illegally (maybe the grocery store should pay for improvements?), was originally the spot where they had multiple tracks in the vicinity of the former Lakewood Station (I thought the Station was down around 2nd Ave, not 4th). If the Township was going to try to condemn it to take it for improvements, they would still have to research who the owner is to serve them the papers.

If MOM is really going to come to fruition, I would think NJDOT/NJT would want to retain ownership of the ROW so they may re-install additional trackage to accomodate the station as a layover track.

Personally I applaud the Township genius who suddenly realized that if they make a fuss about this road to the property owner, its use may be disallowed (assuming formal approval ever existed - I'm still willing to bet the Town just went ahead and paved it themselves without originally speaking with the owner).

Block - Conrail still exists - aka Conrail Shared Assets.....

Its operates lines here in North and South Jersey and in Detroit I believe.

The Southern Secondary is one of the few remaining "pure" Conrail Lines, as is the Amboy Secondary and Freehold Secondary and Chemical Coast I believe. ( i think its still Conrail until Eport, then CSX if im not mistaken). The trains are pure Conrail, with conrail reporting marks (to the dispatchers at least)

the locomotives might be CSX or NS, but the trains are Conrail, and the crews are Conrail as well.

Jtgshu wrote:Block - Conrail still exists - aka Conrail Shared Assets.....

Its operates lines here in North and South Jersey and in Detroit I believe.

The Southern Secondary is one of the few remaining "pure" Conrail Lines, as is the Amboy Secondary and Freehold Secondary and Chemical Coast I believe. ( i think its still Conrail until Eport, then CSX if im not mistaken). The trains are pure Conrail, with conrail reporting marks (to the dispatchers at least)

the locomotives might be CSX or NS, but the trains are Conrail, and the crews are Conrail as well.

Thanks for clarification, looks like bigblue (i.e. CR) is still alive in some aspects.

Hey guys-


Having lived in Lakewood for 10 years, I`m aware of that road (although I always knew it as Railroad Street) The 4th street crossing, and surrounding area, can be a mess. As mentioned above, people at the grocery store park their cars practically on the tracks, and the 4 way stop on the other side of the crossing is a nightmare. Every time I`ve seen the SA-31 approach 4th street headed south, they practically come to a complete stop (as if there were a railroad stop sign there, lol) and scream on the horn before crawling across. Many times the traffic at the 4way stop backs up across the tracks, and the whole situation can be a nightmare. I think if they flew through that crossing at 15mph they`d probably hit someone or some vehicle very frequently. And that also brings up another aspect of that crossing, which is that its probably the most pedestrian-used crossing on the southern. I`m sure the crew just loves downtown Lakewood. take care guys -Chris

I read in the Asbury Park Press today (last page of the local section-Ocean county Edition) that Lakewood may have gone and stuck their collective feet in there mouths. After all the grandstanding about how they were going to demand that the railroad address the problem and pay for the fix, or the town was going to look at condemnation/annexation of the property, the railroad came back (just as predicted) and is now checking if Mary Lane exists legally. It is very possible that the railroad insists that Mary Lane is closed or blocked off permanently.

See what happens when people go drumming on their chests?

Here's the latest, from the Asbury Park Press:

Conrail will not shut down Lakewood roadway
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/2/06
BY RICHARD QUINN
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
LAKEWOOD — Mary's Lane will not be shut down, thanks to an agreement reached this week.

The roadway -- which runs alongside the railroad tracks from Fourth to Seventh streets -- is owned by NJ Transit. But it has been the site of accidents recently as motorists drive into the tracks as they turn from Fourth Street on to Mary's Lane.

Now, after a meeting of officials from the township, NJ Transit and Conrail, which operates the rail line, the intersection will be redesigned.

Lakewood will pay to install protective ballasts near the rail line to prevent drivers from taking the turn too tight. Reflective striping will also be added to the intersection. Lastly, parking will be banned on Mary's Lane, which also should discourage some of its use, Committeeman Robert W. Singer said.

"This is a good solution,'' Singer added.