Vol. 25 - No. 12
In This Week’s Edition
THE MANCHESTER
TIMES
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Manchester, Lakehurst and Whiting
By Chris Lundy MANCHESTER – The Ridgeway Boulevard Bridge, from a commuter’s perspective, hardly looks like a bridge. Many people driving over it probably don’t realize that it spans a branch of the Toms River, or that it is almost 65 years old. The Ridgeway Boulevard Bridge is scheduled to be replaced, according to the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Bids are expected to be received by the end of July. The bridge is on Ridgeway Boulevard, which links Ridgeway Road (otherwise known as Route 571) to a Y-shaped intersection with South Hope Chapel Road, just north of Route 70. The county will be building a new garage for its transportation department on that road. County engineer John Ernst said previously that since it’s a timber bridge, the county wanted to make sure it was going to be sturdy enough to handle the additional traffic from heavy vehicles. “This bridge underwent a partial rehabilitation in 1999 but it has been showing signs of distress and section loss to the existing timber load bearing piles and concrete stub abutments,” said
Government Page 8.
Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town.
Pages 9-14.
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 18.
Dear Pharmacist
Inside The Law Page 21.
Fun Page Page 23.
Business Directory Page 25.
Classifieds Page 24.
Wolfgang Puck Page 31.
—Photos by Chris Lundy The chainsaw carver had his work for sale during last year’s fair. The same ride vendor will return this year. By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – The Ocea n Cou nt y Fai r has been a mainstay for more than seven decades, but there are still new things to see and do. There is a balancing act between bringing new things in to keep
it fresh, and maintain favorites that people want to see, said fair manager Jeff Adams. “There are a couple of entertainers that people always want to see, like the carvers and the racers,” he said. Speaking of balancing acts, a new show will
be put on by a troupe doing high-wire walks, trapeze, and catapulting around. The butterfly encounter will be another new feature. There will be a place for people to go inside, feed butterf lies, and get up close to them. This
(Bridge - See Page 7)
encounter is only open during daylight hours, as the butterflies don’t eat af ter dark. T he Curiosity Zone is an inflatable planetarium that will put on shows. There will be a different pony ride vendor. Instead of the ponies (Fair - See Page 5)
Route 9 Widening Project Planned By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – A long-sought widening of Route 9 is slated to begin in the spring of 2022. It aims to alleviate congestion in several difficult intersections. The plan encompasses a length of the state highway starting just north of Indian Head Road in Toms River to just beyond 2nd Street in Lakewood. The project is in the final design phase now, and letters are expected to go out in the fall to property owners for the state to acquire some property to make the road
changes. For the most part, the state would be buying a sliver of land in order to widen it, said officials from Arora and Associates, the consulting engineers on the project. In some cases, entire lots would need to be purchased in order to put in stormwater retention basins. The project is expected to cost $50 million, said David Hutchinson, project manager with Arora, who gave a presentation recently in Lakewood. Any time a lane has to be closed for construction, it
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| July 27, 6, 2019 | October 2018
Ridgeway Bridge To Be Replaced
What’s New At The Ocean County Fair?
Page 19.
FOR BREAKING NEWS
(Widening - See Page 4)
County Joins Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers
By Jennifer Peacock TOMS RIVER – Ocean County is joining litigation against opioid manufacturers and marketers. The Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a resolution that authorized Sanders Phillips Grossman, Garden City, New York, to file a complaint joining 200 other complainants in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. The complainants were originally all political subdivisions but now include individuals, consumers, hospitals, third-party payers and Native American tribes. The complaints allege companies improperly (Opioid - See Page 20)
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