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Politics & Government

Many Miles Between Here and the Next Stop for Exit 105 Improvements

The maps and details Tinton Falls officials are asking for won't be available until this winter or even spring of 2012.

Details of planned improvements to Garden State Parkway Exit 105 are a long, long way off, and says the state, so are any public hearings on the matter.

Tinton Falls Borough Council President Gary Baldwin and Councilman Andrew Mayer came to last week's Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) looking for some answers about the Turnpike Authority's plans to pump $40 million into road improvements in Tinton Falls in anticipation of the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth.

The state made the announcement several weeks ago but offered no details about the plan which will affect Tinton Falls and Eatontown roadways.

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In response to the officials' concerns, state representatives on the FMERA board offered to try to set up  a between the state and the Tinton Falls officials.

However, this week state representatives said that they would not be meeting with the borough any time soon.

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"The 105 project is in the very, very, very early stages," Tom Feeney, spokesman for the Turnpike Authority told Patch on Monday. "We haven’t even hired the company that’s going to design it yet."

"Once that company gets to work and the design reaches a stage where we have something to discuss, we’ll hold a Public Information Center to share with any concerned citizens the alternative alignments we’re considering," he said. "We typically meet with local elected officials before the Public Information Center to brief them on the alternatives. That will probably be late winter or early spring of next year.  There won’t be any maps or blueprints to share until then."

Feeney told Patch that there will be a public hearing before the first construction contract is awarded but that there is no date scheduled.

"It’s too far out to guess when that hearing might be held. We don’t expect construction to begin until 2013," he said.

Baldwin said that though he wishes he knew more about the proposal, he understands the state's position.

"I am disappointed that they could not find time to send someone to our council meeting and give us a first hand look at what they wish to do in our borough," he said, but added that he "wholeheartedly supports public hearings" and that these meetings would be "sufficient". 

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