Another Road Closure Monday: Route 166 Project Marks 2-1/2 Years

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Old Freehold Road will be closed Monday in the area of Route 166 as part of the ongoing construction on Route 166, officials said. Toms River officials said the township was notified of the road closure, which is anticipated to last through Wednesday afternoon.

The closure is to "complete the area of Stage 2 boxout," the notice said. Detours will be in place that will take traffic around Walnut Street to Old Freehold Road.

The ongoing work, which started in March 2016 and will mark 2-1/2 years this week, continues to be a thorn in the side of business owners along the stretch. On Tuesday, the frustration boiled over for Larry Schuster of Schuster's Car Wash, who posted photos of construction equipment blocking much of his driveway while curb construction was underway.

And most of his ire is focused on the people working at the site. The $11.7 million state-funded project to widen Route 166 and put in a concrete median barrier on the stretch from Highland Parkway south of Route 37 to Old Freehold Road on the north side of the highway, is being constructed by New Prince Construction.

The work has been plagued by complaints and delays from the get-go. Just two months after the work got started in 2016, then-Gov. Chris Christie shut down road projects across the state in a battle with the Legislature over funding for the Transportation Trust Fund. Once Christie lifted the moratorium, the project was set back months because the utility companies, who needed to move lines and pipes, were not available to do their part of the work. It set the project back months.

Last week, Schuster, whose car wash has been at the site for 36 years, had enough.

"Lies after Lies," Schuster said on the car wash's Facebook page, where he posted a photo of his pickup truck with banner on the side of it reading "Lies after lies. Wast of your tax dollars."

The post was prompted when Schuster arrived at work on Tuesday to find nearly his entire entrance and exit blocked by the contractor's equipment. Schuster, in a telephone interview, said the frustration built as he tried to get information on the plans for his entry and exit at the car wash, which included curb cuts and an island between the entrance and exit.

"After the constant lies and kept in the dark we were just told by V the construction engineer 'who follows this page' that we have no reason to see the plans and why should he show us," Schuster wrote on Facebook. "Great ... been here for 36 years and have no insight of this project out in front of our business. Your tax dollars are so at waste here. Well over 12 million dollars and still not even close to completion."

Schuster said by phone that he was told if he wanted to see the plans, he would have to go to Trenton.

Steve Shapiro, director of communications for the state Department of Transportation, said via email that the DOT has repeatedly spoken with Schuster and with the owners of Corinne Jewelers next door, which been criticizing the project on its electronic sign for months.

"The project team visits business owners in the work zone several times each week to provide advance notice whenever active construction is expected to begin near them. In addition, NJDOT has been working with business owners to accommodate and maintain access to businesses during construction," Shapiro wrote.

"NJDOT provided information to the owner of the local car wash about the upcoming curb work in front of his business on multiple occasions over the past month, including again last Friday (Oct. 12) when the resident engineer met with the owner," Shapiro wrote. "At that time he explained the work on the driveway would take place for two days beginning on Tuesday, October 16 and that NJDOT would provide a 24-foot temporary driveway allowing access to the property during construction. The work is expected to be completed by the end of today Wednesday, October 17."

The work on Schuster's driveway was completed late Friday, according to posts on his Facebook page.

Schuster expressed frustration with the design of the curb cuts, saying they made his entrance and exit much smaller. "If they would have just talked to us," he said.

He also expressed doubts that the reconfiguration and widening will ease traffic in the area.

"They have been messing with this since the 1980s, as long as I have been here," he said. "Everything they do just makes it worse."

Shapiro said the DOT realizes the project's delays are causing frustration.

"The department understands the frustration of any community whenever a construction project temporarily causes changes in traffic patterns," he said. "As you know this project was delayed because of the TTF shutdown and then further delayed until the gas utility company completed its work."

"Although construction can be challenging, every effort has been made to keep the property owners up to date on the plans for construction activity as they are made available," he said.

Schuster and others just want the work completed. "They (the contractor) leave every day at 3:30. They're not here for three or four weeks at a time."

He posted a sign late in the week at the car wash with a simple message: "Please don't askm em about the construction out front. I don't know any more than you do. I might cry if you ask me."

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Shapiro said.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com

Follow us on Facebook. Click here to like our page.

Photo by Larry Schuster, published with permission