Cookie-cutter bridge design is the real problem I
Iam so sick and tired of hearing NJ Department of Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri's complaints about how it would be too cost prohibitive to implement a redesign of the proposed new Route 36 Twin Lights Drawbridge.

Well, that's really not our problem, it's his! If he was doing his job when the project was on the drawing board, he would have noticed the fact that the design did not take into consideration the history, scenic character and scale of the surrounding seaside waterfront area.

Instead, he green lighted a cookiecutter bridge design for an area that needs to be respected and preserved in some way, not bastardized by a monstrous bridge that belongs on the New Jersey Turnpike. Must this bridge duplicate the bland eyesores that are the Victory & Shark River bridges? Trying to cram this out-of-scale proposed bridge into this picturesque location is like trying to shove ten pounds of manure into a five-pound bag!

While I am all for the responsible restoration of the existing drawbridge or a reasonable duplication of same, perhaps if the design engineers had thought outside of their cookie cutter and cul-de-sac mentalities, the public would be more trusting of the direction the DOT has taken. The Highlands/Sea Bright/Sandy Hook area is not a cookiecutter locale, and it deserves a bridge with a thoughtful design, not the irresponsible and unenlightened one that has been met with so much opposition.

We, the residents of the area, are the ones who will have to live with this design abomination should it move forward, not Mr. Kolluri and his engineers.

Perhaps they will be returning to their cookie-cutter cul-de-sacs after all is said and done; perhaps that is why they just don't get it!

Don't they teach thoughtful design in engineering institutions anymore, or is it that this is just the cheapest, easiest, assembly-line method of bridge construction way to go? That is the case with most things designed cookie-cutter, not to mention their sheer lack of quality and timelessness.

It has already been demonstrated that, quite regrettably, the majority of our elected officials here in Highlands don't get it, but someone in Kris Kolluri's position certainly should.

Nick Evangelista

Highlands