Traffic Near Six Flags Great Adventure Addressed

JACKSON – Public officials, developers and traffic engineers put their heads together to come up with some recommendations on how to calm the traffic snarls near the entry and exit points of Great Adventure and Adventure Crossing.

The corridor involves roads in not only Jackson but Millstone Township. During the busy summer season, traffic builds up as visitors come to the popular amusement park as well as nearby sports venues in Jackson.

A recent meeting was held at the theme park, attended by Assemblymen Alex Sauickie, Robert Clifton (both R-12th) staff member Anissa Esposito, Great Adventure President Brian Bacica, and from Cardinale Enterprises (Adventure Crossing USA): President Vito Cardinale, Director of Real Estate – Leasing & Property Management Danielle Wyant-Bilotti. Also present were Monmouth County Engineer Robert Ettore, Millstone Mayor Al Ferro, Millstone Business Administrator Kevin Abernethy, and Upper Freehold Township Mayor Dr. Robert Frascella and Committeeman Steve Alexander. Invited but unable to attend was Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone.

Assemblyman Sauickie told The Jackson Times that, “Assemblyman Clifton and I worked to address what has been a decade plus problem with (Route) 537 and particularly the I-95 bridge. We let everyone know that we had been given some assurances by the governor’s office that they will be addressed.”

“We believe that this project will have a positive impact not only for Jackson residents, but also those of surrounding communities such as Plumsted, Millstone and Upper Freehold,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to lay out some ideas and hear what the engineer had to say about them. The management teams of Six Flags and Adventure Crossing have been great to work with and clearly want the traffic issues solved as much as anyone.”

Those present at this meeting discussed a wide range of topics including signage improvements to physical issues with the I-195 ramps. “Signs could better guide drivers unfamiliar with the area, both on the way to Six Flags and on the way out. Six Flags may be able to do some things on its own property to make sure departing traffic takes the appropriate route,” he said.

“We discussed possible solutions – none of which are set in stone yet. I would say it is a multi-point solution. There are some things that will alleviate some of the problems and the bigger issue will be around the bridge itself. One of the big hangups has been that 537 is essentially a county border. The road itself is maintained by Monmouth County but there is a lot of impact to Ocean County residents,” Sauickie added.

The assemblyman noted, “the bridge is over a federal interstate so getting all the parties to agree to address the problem is probably a decade-long issue. With the assurances we have gotten from the Governor’s office I think we will finally get the funding that we need and it will support what we need to address.”

“We haven’t been given a definitive number but we suggested a $50-$100 million dollar solution. That could be arranged to support the problem. We would be supportive of any type of bill that would support infrastructure and once we got some assurances that we could get that kind of funding for that area,” he added.

Sauickie noted, “it’s been a quality-of-life issue that Jackson, Millstone, Upper Freehold and Plumsted residents have been complaining about for over a decade. It is also a safety issue. When there is a bottleneck at the bridge first responders can’t get to the other side of the bridge. It is a real nightmare.”

It was decided that the engineer be provided more time to review and consider what was discussed, and a future meeting will take place to formulate some plans of action.

“We are happy for the first time that I can recall we have assurances to actually address the problem,” Sauickie added. “We want to see Six Flags Great Adventure do better. We want to see the businesses in the area do better. No one is against the businesses growing and bringing revenue into the area with tourism and everything that comes with that.”

He added, “we of course want to be very sensitive to the residents that live around the area and see what we can do to address both quality of life and the safety issues. I feel everyone left the meeting feeling like finally, we have some real momentum on this.”

Assemblyman Clifton is a member of the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee. He has met with the acting head of the State Department of Transportation and discussed these issues and is promoting a future high-level meeting in the next few weeks.