Build a bridge connecting sunset road straight across to North Lake Drive.
Let me explain:
If you open Google Maps and look at Lakewood from above, you’ll notice a pattern:
In the middle is Route 9, running vertically. Unfortunately, since it’s outside the jurisdiction of Lakewood Township, it has taken years to reform.
To its right is Vine Ave.
To its left is Massachusetts Ave. It detours into Williams St and then back to Sunset. What is missing is from Sunset to the northern part of Lakewood.
If you build a bridge, it will decongest traffic on the 9, and encourage drivers who are traveling east on Central Ave to use the bridge to bypass the 9 (if traveling north). It will make Lakewood more into a grid, decongest traffic, not require authorization from the State of NJ, and bridge everyone closer together.
The more Lakewood becomes a grid, the more traffic can disperse into different sections and decongest from the mainlines.
Following that logic, it would be really awesome if travelers on Massachusetts Ave could use Excel Place to cut straight through the Woodhaven Lumber & Mill straight into Sunset Ave, essentially turning the intersection of Sunset and James from a 3-way into a 4-way, but I am not aware of how politically challenging it would be to make that happen.
TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to letters@thelakewoodscoop.com
Bridge will cost u over 1 billion dollars and no one can pay for it so dream on
No it wont. The lake is man-made & can easily be dried up incertain spots. No need for expensive equipment.
That is so cool. You can just choose certain spots in the lake you want to dry up. since its man made.
Make it a toll bridge to pay for itself. Anyone who wants a shorter route can pay. It’s a great idea! Please pursue this because it would relief a lot of congestion on Central and Hope Chapel.
Or maybe an optional toll, like a tzedakah box at either end?
Yankel, what’s with you always getting hung up on the technical details?? The man has a plan, lets take him seriously
We can construct a floating bridge ,way cheaper very feasible ,won’t obstruct boats
Maybe i’m too closed minded… but wouldn’t how exactly would a floating bridge not obstruct boats? Maybe you meant submarines?
Or teleport or fly or…. Really??
It is hard for me to follow all the maps and diagrams in this letter, maybe because I am a little under the weather and I have a bit of sinus infection. However, I do see that the letter has to do with decongesting. Does anyone have a good remedy for this?
Since when is this a forum for leitzanus??
I agree with building out a grid. We definitely need more north-south routes, it would make getting around a lot easier for everyone.
That said, I do not think we should be building over the lake. It’s a central feature of the local landscape, and it would be a shame to mar its beauty with yet more cars.
If הרב דנלד שליט”א can drain the swamp, I think we can drain the lake.
“The more lakewood becomes a grid…”. yes, the more that the ground shifts under our feet and plate tectonics are happening and the more that slowly that houses and streets slowly shift as we apply pressure on them and the more lakewood grids itself out slowly but surely and starts to resemble the layout of Manhattan….
An out of towner once mentioned this to me after visiting lakewood a few times. it’s a great idea, although will make the lake a less pretty destination.
Another thought, you can build a bridge on route 9 from south of the lake to north of the lake which allows the traffic going north not to converge into one lane but keep it two lanes, without left and right turn slow downs. a big job, but would be great for traffic.
Was I that “out-of-towner”, by any chance? Because I actually live in Boro Park, btw. Maybe you are the “out-of-towner”
The only lake we have here is on the corner 13th and 48th under the tracks when it rains. My family takes walks around it.
Chill. No one meant to insult your “lake”
Travis for Mayor!!!
Excuse me???
Lol
100% connecting Massachusetts to James would be a huge win for the cross traffic , on another note anyone knows what’s going on with cross what’s the holdup about and are they making a very needed sidewalk because people just walk/bike on cross in the street because they have no where to walk please make a sidewalk along the whole cross please 🙏💙
How about an underground tunnel from gourmet South to gourmet North. With one stop in middle that has a cholent station.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
you have no idea how amazing your suggestion actually is. a subway between those two locations would cut out a TON of Yeshiva traffic.
You make it sound like e/o in yeshiva is shuttling back and forth between the two gourmet glatts
It sounds like you did a ton of research, Like finding out costs, Figuring out how much room is needed to land the bridge, Over whose house are you allowed to build a bridge?, How many lanes each way a bridge needs? How much are impact the environment? And so on and so forth
Please stop being so condescending. I have actually researched this idea for many years, and have about 550 pages I have written up about it, but the scoop told me that it was too long to publish my whole report. Yes, the bridge is going to be built over your house, but as you will see on page 176 we plan on installing a 2×2 skylight on the road deck over your roof.
Hey Letter Author, thanks for stealing my post! 🤣🤣 I’m the OP, thank you very much. And to prove it, I have no way since there’s no way to upload photos here or anything, so you’ll have to take my word for it.
I love the feedback I was reading here!
Drat it. I knew my cover would get blown…
Lol
I can’t imagine Lakewood Township is the only approval necessary to build a bridge across a Lake. Even if it were, where is all this traffic going to come out? Sleepy, Windy, North Lake Dr.? Private Way? This hardly makes sense.
I work for the International Board of New Construction Bridge Approvals, and I hereby give my approval.
great idea but maybe ask all the people that purchased house along this rout or maybe you want to change homes with them just saying you will be disturbing lots of homes the answer is stop building not distroy neighborhoods
Do this and it will encourage more building. Then we’ll need more bridges.
If only it would have been done already! There needs to be big change in this beautiful town but I can imagine building bridges ain’t easy?
U should have voted for Travis! He said this yrs ago
Me and Travis actually once started digging holes for a foundation on north lake with posthole diggers but we got stopped by cop who demanded to see a permit
It should connect through James until Prospect, which would relieve some of the traffic on Cross.
Connect Cedarbridge to Rt 88 in a couple more places.
The new Vine St which connects Cedarbridge to Pine St makes a big difference for people who need to travel to those neighborhoods, and relieves some traffic on the main roads.
Do you have any idea how much bridges cost? Do you think the Township can afford to build a real bridge?
I think we should build another city on top of lkwd. We’ll have 2 floors. Side note, the bottom floor won’t have to buy umbrellas.
Listen, I hear you. But can we stay focused here?
Environmental approvals alone would take 10 years. That’s why the pedestrian walkway is classified as a floating dock rather than a bridge. Vine street was held up for years over a flower in a 100ft stretch of swamp
Please do not build that bridge!! The lake is our last natural sanctuary from the relentless building in our town. Even the walking bridge that was built recently is an eyesore. At least it’s down the lake so most of the lake is still open and beautiful. A bridge at Sunset would definitely ruin the beauty of the lake. It would also create a traffic nightmare on Sunset Road, a residential area, which is already heavily congested during rush hours. You think the bridge would improve the quality of life, but that is not the case. It would make the quality of life in our once beautiful town deteriorate further for the above reasons and more.
Build a big beautiful bridge! It will add to the landscape.
I can just imagine walking under the golden gate bridge of Lakewood at sunset…
plus side is that whenever you walk underneath, it’s always sunset.
The status quo is working just right for those in charge. Many good ideas would have been implemented over the last 20 years if there would have been the motivation to do so. Only competition creates motivation (Mesilas Yeshorim), theres no real competition in the local elections so nothing improves.
Welcome to Lakewood. Congratulations on downloading Google maps and pointing out what we all know already.
But it’s not going to happen under this leadership.
Hatzlacha
How To Build A Bridge: The Definitive Guide For Couch Potatoes.
1. Download Google maps and screenshot relevant area
2. Draw thick colorful lines roughly where you think the new bridge should be.
3. Submit to Lakewood Scoop for approval.
This made me laugh so hard!!!
This has always been an obvious solution, you will find politicians finding excuses not to do it while at the same time making a walking bridge
Excuses it is!! How can it be that they manage to put together a floating dock of milk cartons but somehow they across a built-up residential area?????
*but somehow are unable to construct a billion dollar span across a built-up residential area??????
Here’s another suggestion to reduce traffic congestion. Buses “turnouts” – i.e: designated indents on the main roads for buses AND SCHOOL BUSES to pull up and safely pick up / drop off passengers, while letting the traffic flow.
oh, you mean places for pedestrians to get mowed down by people trying to pass? yeah, okay.
This plan would see hundreds of cars entering N Lake Dr/14th St area, which is very residential. The roads are narrow and twisty. I don’t think it’s a good idea at all. Also, even if it is a good idea, it’s probably a massive expense to build a bridge through a lake. Very different from a floating walkway for people. The city doesn’t have the funds.
I do agree that it would be helpful if Massachusetts would continue to Sunset.
don’t be a killjoy! all they would need to do is raise the speed limit on North Lake to 50mph and it would handle all the traffic you want and more.
We definitely need more north-south routes. It would make getting around easier for everyone.
That said, I do think we should avoid building over the lake, as it is a main feature of Lakewood. It would be such a shame to mar the beautiful view for yet more cars.
If you thing route 9 is hard try getting DEP to approve a vehicle bridge over the Lake and then try to get funding for the 25 million it will cost to plan and engineer a bridge capable of carrying heavy weight vehicles like school busses and redesigned intersections at each access point to boot. Dream on….
25 Million! that won’t even cover the planning, permits, zoning etc.
realistically, this is a 2 billion dollar project that would take 10 years to break ground. honestly, the only solution is to build a monorail that goes from the north border of Lakewood all the way to the south parallel to route 9. solves so many problems its absurd.
And by the time it’s done, the price tag will double or triple anyway.
so we’re talking 6 billion now?
to build a few hundred foot span over a glorified fish pond called Lake carasaljo?
The State Dep of Environmental protection will never allow it. And if they do ,it will have conditions that will make the cost 100 million dollars and take 20 years to get the permits.
Build first ask after
Isn’t that the “normal” way things are done in Lakewood???
This is brilliant! Where have you been all these years???
Wow!
Working on the fine details, obviously. Don’t be such a smart alec.
Someone else stealing my post I see. Oh well… 😏I have other bridge plans in the works
You gotta love people who provide “obvious solutions” without considering what it will entail. Sunset is at a different elevation than North Lake so it would have to be raised before going over the lake. You would then have to raise South Lake to create a new four way intersection otherwise it will run straight into the base of your bridge. Even better, you want to cut through the middle of the woodhaven lot (condemnation of private property again) dividing it in two. So multiple families will have their homes condemned since there would be no way to provide the rise in elevation without doing so. Then you want to slice up a business property. Follow that up with dumping traffic on North Lake that it is not designed to handle or overloading the quiet neighborhoods between North Lake and Forest as people look for another short cut. You’ll be bisecting the walking path around the lake on both sides that’s been there since the 1800’s, that many people enjoy and now forcing them to cross a busy road. If I’m not mistaken this would also land right in the middle of the playground parking lot on North Lake as well. All this because it would be more convenient for you? Since the EPA would never sign off on it, it’s just an ill fated wish anyway.
Just wondering, are you an engineer. Like, how do you know what elevation Sunset is?
Eyes tell you things.
Stand at the base of Sunset where it meets South Lake, look across the lake to North Lake and tell me it’s not painfully obvious the elevation is very different. If you need more proof than that you can go to the USGS survey map, updated in 2023, which clearly shows the differences in elevation. You don’t need to be an engineer to do either of these things and come to the same conclusion.
I’m there right now… which direction should I be looking in? Everything is dark outside.
The letter writer also mentioned that Massachusetts Ave should really connect to sunset Ave. That is a good idea that might take fewer years and politicians to accomplish.
Massachusets Ave should definitely connect with Sunset Ave some time. Maybe get together over tea. They have so much they can gain from each other.
I somehow think a tunnel would have a lesser effect on the environment and would be a better option. I’d assume the lake isn’t so deep.
We can all dream, also some roads on North lake are narrow and have children or families around the area. It’ll bottleneck up too.
This what you get when you build more than what the infrastructure can handle , building a bridge is never going to happen !!!!
i can build it for 10-15 million! i do construction
Me too! With lego bricks!!
We need it.
It’s gonna be huuuge !
One can learn beauty of architect and city road planning and decongestion by studying the city road patterns and designs of Yerushalayim. The beautiful bridge at the entrance to the city, the light rail roads. It took years to design and construct but it was a brilliant solution to very heavy congestion. Lakewood has beautiful architects on homes and business buildings. It’s time to use brilliant architects to design the city roads (and traffic patterns).
Obviously the offer of this letter does not live on Sunset or on Southlake, as the concern of clogging these streets with traffic with no regard to its residents.
You’re right about that! 😉
Actually, my main residence is on Sunset. I summer on south lake.
As a resident of Sunset Rd, I find that hard to believe. How could you make that suggestion knowing that you would have a major road outside your door? And that’s if they don’t get rid of your home to widen the road! This is not a viable suggestion.
Hey, maybe we are neighbors. Can you bring over cookies some day?
Vine Street does not go all the way through!! It’s a lie
This is Lakewood. Things have changed since you posted this comment at 9:09pm
LOL
I think a better, easier to implement, & cheaper solution is to have congestion pricing around all the Cheders/Bais Yaakovs/Yeshivas, etc.
This will discourage parents from dropping off or picking up their kids & will encourage those in Yeshiva/Kollel to carpool.
how about getting BUSSES for all the kids first?
Once we’re draining the lake a little for the bridge, let’s drain the whole thing and build more houses there :).
sure lets do this and make our taxes go up to fifteen thousand dollars a year
Thanks for this valid and logical suggestion. Marking the printouts was a good idea. (Just ignore the bored cynics who knock an idea without even taking a moment to study the maps). If you’re in a position of influence locally, please look into the possibilities. We really do need to think out of the box since traffic is severely impacting daily life and the state isn’t expanding Route 9.
Just ignore me, please.
Will never happen. Nothing like an idiot with too much time and some crayons. About as much sense as adding a new development on the corner of Route 9 and prospect, in the Kimball hospital parking lot.
Homes at Kimball Corners are already 90% sold!
I’m talking about building a West Gate sized project in Kimball Parking lot.
Hey, thats not a bad idea. I always thought Kimball parking lot was underused
This is an idea worthy of serious analysis. We have serious congestion problems and current costs in wasted time must be considered. Also, emergency vehicles are regularly stuck in traffic. A full analysis may come up with an alternative plan, but this is a great place to start.
The comments here were my serving of humor for the day. Thank you all!
How about making Rt 9 double-decker? see Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago
sorry, but the writer has it all backwards. We need to dig a narrow TUNNEL under the lake for pedestrians, and then build a highspeed elevated monorail from BMG to Belz financed by the tolls. Traveling at 350mph, it would cut down on most of the traffic in Lakewood. We can also build an elevated express highway ABOVE Rt 9 modeled after the BQE and then move all the homeless into tents below it.
LOL