Freeholders to Unveil Design for New Main Access Road to Central Park

The Morris Plains Community Center at 51 Jim Fear Drive is the venue for 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. session. Residents of Parsippany, Morris Plains, and Morris Township, who are most affected by traffic to and from the park, especially are invited to attend.

This new park access road would run from West Hanover Avenue at a signalized intersection on the Parsippany and Morris Township border to Central Avenue, which is the main road through the county park, near the Morris Plains border.

“We know that the residents of Morris Plains have been seeking relief from traffic that cuts through their neighborhoods to get to what has quickly become a very popular and busy county park,’’ said Freeholder Doug Cabana. “We are working closely with the state and the towns of Parsippany, Morris Plains and Morris Township to ensure this project is properly designed and gets completed as quickly as possible.’’It should divert much of the park traffic for activities, such as soccer and lacrosse matches, cross-country races, inline skating, softball and a busy dog park, from residential roads in Morris Plains. In addition to installing new road signs directing park traffic to the new entrance, the county would work to update GPS data providers to have motorists directed to the new entrance.

The design, done by Boswell Engineering of South Hackensack, includes creation of a new signaled intersection on heavily traveled West Hanover Avenue. The new road has to skirt some existing wetlands and a still-operating sewage treatment plant for the nearby Greystone Park State Psychiatric Hospital as its cuts through to Central Avenue.

The county in 2015 allocated funds for the design and construction of the new road and the new intersection. At that time, it was expected the final design would be ready in the early summer of 2017, with construction to begin in the fall of this year.

Before they could move on the locally anticipated project, the Freeholder Board had to get a deed of easement from the state, to give the county access to the state-owned property needed for the new park entrance. That easement required approval of both the State House Commission and the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority.

Morris County built Central Park on the former Greystone Park State Psychiatric Hospital campus tract that was acquired from the state in 2001.

Under terms of the management and use agreement, the state would deliver the property to the county in suitable condition for passive public outdoor recreation, such as walking, hiking, picnicking, nature watching, or for conservation purposes. The county could add active recreation uses in the future.

While the park has been a great recreational success for the county, that same success has caused residents in adjacent residential neighborhoods in Morris Plains to become concerned about the increased levels of traffic through their community headed to and from Central Avenue, despite signs that direct traffic around those neighborhoods.

For more information on Central Park of Morris County, click here.