LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE SEEKS ADDITIONAL $2 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR BMG'S HOUSING CAMPUS ROADS AND UTILITIES

For the third consecutive year, Lakewood's Township Committee is asking for federal funds to help pay for the roads in BMG's planned housing campus.

Each year Lakewood's Congressional Delegation, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Bob Smith, and Congressman Chris Smith solicit projects for Congress's Community Funding Project.

Typically, New Jersey's Congressional Delegation fights for funding for projects which make critical investments in education, water infrastructure and health care services, create good-paying jobs, and lower costs for hardworking families - projects which improve communities across the state.

Lakewood's Township Committee is asking New Jersey's Congressional Delegation to earmark $2 million of this year's federal funds to pay for the roads and utilities for the infrastructure improvements within the proposed public right-of-way of the new Cedarview Avenue, which will service Beth Medrash Govoha's planned housing campus.

This is the third consecutive year that the Township Committee is supporting BMG's efforts to seek federal funds for the roads in their future housing campus.

In 2021, BMG received a $3 million federal grant towards this land purchase, specifically earmarked because they proposed to eventually build a child care center on a portion of the land.

In 2022, BMG received an additional $2 million federal grant to pay for construction of the Carey Street and Cedarview Avenue roadways, sidewalks, street lighting and associated improvements, sanitary sewer mains and infrastructure, drinking water mains and infrastructure, stormwater management and drainage infrastructure, and landscaping for this project. (With the Township Committee's endorsement, BMG requested $4 million. Ultimately however they received only $2 million.)

At the time of submission of the 2022 application, Lakewood's Township Committee supported application of the grant, saying that the project is anticipated to "alleviate the severe housing shortage present in the Township housing market, ease traffic congestion by taking commuters off the most congested roads, and open a new thoroughfare and exit roads from the College District."

“Lakewood is one of the fastest growing cities in America and a growing economic engine for Ocean County, and there is an urgent need to lessen congestion on narrow streets that were designed and built in many cases over 100 years ago,” said Congressman Chris Smith in announcing the 2023 grant award. “This federal support will help create a thoroughfare that drivers can use to overt excessively congested local roadways to get to Interstate 195, the Garden State Parkway and other highways.”

Curiously, as presented to the Planning Board in their Site Plan application, BMG is only planning to pave 26 feet wide roads, which will not provide room for on-street parking. The standard width for new roads in Lakewood is 32 feet wide.