Meandering w/ Mark Matthews: 295/76/42 rebuild shows signs of blooming in the Spring. Play Ball!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
BY MARK MATTHEWS
CNBNews.net
While we didn't see much snow this winter, the cold weather seemed to hang around a little too long this year. Now that weather has finally gotten warmer, we are all happy to see the start of new life... Birds are chirping, grass is greener, flowers are blooming and we have the first swings of Little League bats this season.
And this year spring brings us something very new to the Bellmawr Little League fields on Essex Ave... Our first signs of the start of the long awaited "Direct Connection" project, which as you should know, will redesign the crossroads of 295/76/42, including taking a lot of the curve out of the Al-Jo's curve in Mt Ephraim.
What originally was a wooded backdrop to the Little League fields, has been cleared out straight to the highway. Workers are moving quickly to install a taller fence separating the fields from the roadway. The new tall steel fence posts stand like guards protecting the town from the dangers of the highway. This is to make room for a widened and elevated section of highway going through this area.
Seeing a culvert behind the minor league left field, reminded me of when I was a kid a long time ago, going back into those "woods" to play in the stream.
I had actually seen the construction when driving by on the highway, and since it was a nice day I drove around to the field and took a few photos.
Click below for several more photos!
I also include a Google Map image of the trees that were there, and an odd NJDOT rendering of the final barrier wall at the fields... odd, in that they seem to depict the bleachers of a ball field directly behind the short-stop. I hope this isn't 100% accurate. :-)