It took decades to come to fruition, but on the last day of 2009 Upper Freehold Mayor Steve Alexander signed an agreement that will allow Monmouth County to take over Sharon Station Road.

Board of Chosen Freeholders Director Barbara McMorrow and Upper Freehold Mayor Steve Alexander sign an agreement that clears the way for improvements to be made to a section of Sharon Station Road in Upper Freehold. Under the terms of the agreement with the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the county will assume jurisdiction of and provide improvements for the approximately 1.5-mile section of Sharon Station Road between County Route 526 and County Route 539.

The township will assume jurisdiction of approximately 1.5 miles of County Route 43 (Davis Station Road) and County Route 27 (Burlington Path). The section of Davis Station Road is between Route 539 and the Jersey Central Power and Light right of way. The section of Burlington Path is between Route 539 and Meirs Road.

The county expects to include the design of Sharon Station Road improvements in its 2010 capital improvement plan.

Residents have appeared regularly before the Township Committee to complain about the dangerous condition of the road. A group called CARS sued the township in 2007, demanding it ban commercial truck traffic on the road, among other issues. The legal action was later withdrawn.

In June 2009, a Plumsted woman died when a truck hit her vehicle at the intersection of Route 526 and Sharon Station Road.

Alexander praised county engineer Joseph Ettore’s efforts to move the project forward and have it put on this year’s capital improvement plan.

“I’m happy it is as much a priority for them as it is for us,” Alexander said.

Alexander said the county has already gone out to bid for a traffic light for the intersection of Burlington Path and Route 539.

“We are also looking to control traffic so it is not a 4-mile, nonstop stretch from Route 537 to Route 526,” he said. “I hope it’s not such a large cut-through anymore, with a traffic light at Burlington Path.”

In a two-tiered approach, the county will work on the road to make it more level before the redesign begins, according to Alexander. Some of the work may have to wait until it is warm enough to put down asphalt, he said.

Patrick Nolan, a resident of the Woods at Cream Ridge development along Sharon Station Road, said he was glad to see the county handling the improvement of the road, instead of the township having to bear the expense. He said the road’s safety has always been a priority in town, which is why “it’s unfortunate that it has been held up for so long with political wrangling by those both within our town and outside of it who have tried to connect its improvement to other projects.”