A pre-Purim meeting with various township departments, community organizations and Askanim was held Friday afternoon in order to ensure that Purim in Lakewood can be enjoyed safely and with as few disruptions as possible.
Among some of the safety decided on were, as in previous years, the placement of crossing guards at key intersections throughout town and light and surveillance towers at strategic locations across the township.
In addition, the Lakewood Police Department will have a transport vehicle in use if necessary, while Lakewood Bikur Cholim will have several transport vehicles as well, including ones with handicap capacity.
Also, all road construction will be suspended for Monday and Tuesday.
Regarding road safety, several busy streets will once again have traffic flow going in one direction, including 6th street from Private Way to Lakewood Avenue one way Westbound and Lawrence Avenue Northbound.
Police will also close the Route 9 entrance to the Gourmet Glatt plaza, with all traffic diverted to the Kennedy Boulevard entrance on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Another expected high traffic location expected this year is in the vicinity of the Lakewood High School, which will be hosting a community Megillah reading on Monday night. Police will be on scene to ensure a smooth traffic flow prior to the doors opening at 8:30pm.
Participating agencies included the Ocean County Sheriff, Lakewood Police, LCSW, Lakewood Fire, Hatzolah of Central Jersey, Lakewood EMS, Lakewood First Aid, Chaveirim of Central Jersey, Lakewood Bikur Cholim, Township Committee member Meir Lichtenstein and the Department of Public Works.
It may be helpful to have portable bathrooms in high pedestrian-traffic areas. TY
There is one disruption that you did not mention in this post that needs to be addressed, otherwise it can have serious consequences.
On erev Purim, many bakeries tend to run out of Purim pastries, leaving distraught customers without the necessary Purim treats, and with a deep feeling of abandonment.
A lack of Purim pastries on Purim, can be debilitating to the holiday spirit, and can cause an anxious, pastry-less individual to imbibe huge volumes of wine and other alcoholic beverages, to the point where this individual is so drunk, he can’t recognize the difference between a Mordechai and a Haman.
If the Township can see to it that the bakeries have ample supplies of Purim pastries on erev Purim, this would be a tremendous benefit for everyone – including those who accidentally fall asleep during their Purim feasts, and are left without a morsel of food to sustain themselves, except for these life-saving Purim pastries, and a few kegs of wine.
Maybe enforce the “no left turn” out of the gourmet glatt plaza 2nd exit, the one closer to the intersection of rt9. The cars force their way into traffic and block the roadway unfairly for those who are rightfully in the lanes.