Ocean County officials have spent a number of years planning for a new regional park on a 250 acre site in Manchester Township near County Route 571 and Ridgeway Boulevard.
The work until now has included land acquisition, permitting from the Pinelands Commission and the state Department of Environmental Protection, environmental assessment and planning.
Plans for the park have advanced one meaningful step forward as the Ocean County Board of Commissioners has just approved a $12 million bond for phase I of the design and development, FAA News has learned.
The currently vacant parcel will be preserved for both active and passive recreational activities.
Ridgeway Boulevard, which traverses a branch of the Toms River, will bisect the new park. In order to discourage the movement of pedestrians across the boulevard, Ocean County will provide a side dedicated to active recreation and a separate more passive setting.
Proposed amenities include athletic fields and courts, picnic pavilions, a spray park, playgrounds, flag area, pickle ball court, hiking trails, a comfort station, water fountains, a maintenance yard, and associated parking.
The popular spray park feature provides a place for children to access water features in the park during warm weather.
The park site – which totals about 250 acres - is bordered by Routes 571 and 547 and the railroad.
The total developable area is about 121 acres with remaining acreage mostly wetlands and buffer area.
Manchester Township donated about 215 acres from the township along with the County purchasing about 12 acres from the township for the park project. The County also purchased another 23 acres that was in private ownership.
This park will be built in two phases with the first phase focusing on the infrastructure and passive recreation.
"With this park, the county will now operate a park in reasonable commuting distance for all residents," said Ocean County Commissioner Virginia E. Haines, Chairwoman of the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation." A park in reasonable commuting distance for all residents was a big focus for former longtime Freeholder John C. Bartlett, Jr.
"While this undertaking will take some time, this regional park will meet the needs of the residents of Manchester Township and those living nearby," noted Haines.
On its eastern side, the new park will border the old tracks of the Central Railroad of New Jersey — the same line that carried the storied “Blue Comet” passenger train between Jersey City and Atlantic City from 1929 to 1941.
The “Blue Comet” made scheduled stops in Lakewood six miles up the track and at Lakehurst two miles down the track.
The old tracks that carried the train between Jersey City and Atlantic City will border the new county park in Manchester. The specific section of track is located between Lakewood and Lakehurst.
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