Scenic route to meander through Upper Freehold

BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD — Members of the Visions Committee asked for more support last week for a scenic byway route through town.

At the May 19 Township Committee meeting, Sue Kozel, vice chairwoman of the committee, gave a PowerPoint presentation that will eventually be shown to state Department of Transportation officials, who must approve the route.

The Upper Freehold scenic byway was titled “Where New Jersey’s Revolutionary Past and Agrarian Vision Meet.” The byway would consist of a 24-mile loop through Upper Freehold and Allentown. Kozel said the route will feature key historic, agricultural and environmental points.

According to the presentation, the byway presents a unique community vision, unveils educational travel experience, creates a family-fun learning tour and showcases continuing agrarian traditions. Features include Allentown, a designated historical village, and the large amount of preserved farmland in Upper Freehold, described as “unbroken miles of rural scenic beauty framed within a quaint village.”

The route also includes Crosswicks Creek, Clayton Park and Historic Walnford, which are all part of the Monmouth County Park System (MCPS). Stream corridors preserved by the MCPS, Doctors Creek and other areas of environmental importance are also part of the viewscape.

Historic features on the byway include the Allentown burial plot of William Newell, a New Jersey governor and father of the U.S. Coast Guard, in addition to the Old Yellow Meeting House in Upper Freehold, with a cemetery containing remains of the earliest families in the township. The route will also showcase the area’s equine industry. Postcards of points of interest will be produced as well.

Marc Covitz, the subcommittee chair of the byway committee and a Democratic candidate for Township Committee, said the route was intended as “crossroads through time,” to capture the township from the prehistoric era until today. He said the route tells of Native American and archaeological history, colonial times and the movement of troops through Upper Freehold during the American Revolution. He said travelers will also see farming and the many historic homes in the area.

The byway would start on Burlington Path Road, proceeding east to Red Valley Road. It would continue along Route 526 past Clayton Park to Rues and Chambers roads, then west onto Route 524, past the Horse Park of New Jersey and onto Allentown, then onto Route 539 to Walnford Road. Once past Historic Walnford, the route goes to Hill Road and Arneytown-Hornerstown Road, back to Holmes Mill Road and finally, to the point of origin on Burlington Path Road.

Covitz said there would also be spur routes that are the not on the main trunk route, including the village of Imlaystown, the Old Yellow Meeting House and the route covered by the Revolutionary War troops. In addition, a regional extension of the route could lead into other towns, according to Covitz.

Visions Committee Chairman David Meirs II requested additional funding for the project from the governing body. Last year, the Township Committee budgeted $1,500 for the committee, he said, but the money was not used. This year, he said, the group was given a line item in the budget of $500, and members spent $300 on paper, photocopying and other items.

Meirs asked for another $500 from the township to continue the work, adding that the Visions Committee will need to ask for more money in the future to hire a state consultant.

Committeeman David Horsnall told Meirs that the Township Committee “will find a way to get this done.”

Deputy Mayor William Miscoski thanked the Visions Committee for its work.

“Our town is beautiful,” Miscoski said. “I want to thank all the previous people who sat [on the Township Committee]. It didn’t get this way by accident.”

Volunteers, according to the presentation, donated more than 125 hours to create the scenic byway route, and to shoot photos and prepare the support materials for the narrative and promotional documents.