by Paul Goldfinger
We have begun our ongoing series of articles called “The Asbury Connection,” where we have decided to cover places and events in AP which might appeal to Ocean Grovers. In our initial editorial ( \”The Asbury Connection\” ) we made reference to the “easy walk” that takes us to the center of the action. However, Eileen and I walked there last night for dinner and we decided that a safety caveat would be in order. (See the photo gallery below.)
If you take the Wesley Lake bridge near where New Jersey and Asbury Avenues meet, even in daytime, you will discover some concerns. The most obvious is on the Asbury side of the bridge, where you will be greeted by a wide expanse of tall dense shrubbery. Whether it is day or night, you have to wonder what might be lurking on the other side of those bushes.
As you make your way around the barrier, you quickly find yourself face to face with the Indianapolis 500. Asbury’s Lake Avenue has a traffic light and crosswalk lines there, but no cars slow at the crosswalk (there is no little man stop sign there), and the traffic light is blinking yellow. If you are not paying careful attention, you could step out into traffic in no time.
But the adventure is not over yet. When you reach Cookman Avenue and you find yourself at the crossroads of three streets, there is no light to help pedestrians cross over to Old Man Rafferty’s. If the westbound Cookman cars are stopped, and you step out, you could be partially across when the traffic goes green.
Our suggestion is to drive there at night. If you choose to walk that route, be careful and do not go alone. If you are on the boardwalk at night, do not walk west on Lake Avenue in the Grove, because there are dense shrubs there that partially block the sidewalks in some places and there is no lighting.
Asbury Park would do well to look at the welcome they are offering Grovers who want to walk into their city. For starters, they should chop down the bushes and turn on the traffic light. Neptune Township should look into ways to make Lake Avenue in Ocean Grove safer at night.
Crossing the bridge into AP. Blogfinger photos
On the Asbury-Lake Avenue side of the shrubs
The view when returning towards OG