LOWER TOWNSHIP – Mayor Michael Beck will attend another meeting of the Bayshore Heritage Byway Advisory Committee this week, serving as a steady reminder of the township’s interest in the program.

In late 2010, the township council voted unanimously to support Lower’s involvement and inclusion on the Bayshore Heritage Byway Route.

The 124-mile route is designed to guide visitors through New Jersey’s “western shore,” offering a route through Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties that includes the Delaware Bay, marshes, mudflats, farm fields and historic sites.

As originally drawn, the byway bypassed Lower Township.

“If they were looking for a direct route to bypass Lower Township, they found it,” said Beck, who raised objections about the omission at a goal-setting meeting last fall with the South Jersey Bayshore Coalition, sponsors of the heritage route.

“But, the real problem was that the township passed a resolution in 2008 where they declined to take part in the program,” said Beck. “So the omission of Lower Township on the original route had as much to do with us, as it did with their planning.

“We’ve got to keep the press on. Now that they have rewritten the plan to include us, we want to let them know we are serious about our commitment,” Beck said.

According to the group’s website, the South Jersey Bayshore Coalition endorsed the route modification to include Lower Township on Jan. 21. The proposed modification will include Middle Township as well.

“We are trying to lift up Lower,” said Norris Clark at a December council meeting to show support for the scenic and historic byway. Clark, who will attend the Feb. 16 meeting with Beck, launched www.lowerlookingup.com last month.

According to Clark website, which lauds the mayor’s role in getting the township back on the byway, the amended route will start at the intersection of Route 47 and Route 603 where the Byway will turn west towards the Delaware Bay along Route 603 until turning left at Route 613 to Route 626, from which the route continues.

Additionally, two spurs are proposed along Route 9 past the Delaware Lewes Ferry to the bay and the site of Historic Town Bank; another spur is proposed along Sunset Drive to Sunset Beach, according to Clark’s information.

The route through Lower will draw attention to Norbury’s Landing and the Cox Hall Creek Wildlife Management Area, as well as historic and cultural landmarks like the 19th century home of Judge Nathanial Foster’s Home, the Fishing Creek School, the Forgotten Warriors Vietnam Veterans Museum, and the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum.

“The byway needs us and we need them,” said Beck. “This is an opportunity to showcase what we have.

“If you highlight the historical, cultural and natural settings, you end up with economic development,” he said. “It is another piece in the puzzle. It is all interlinked. You don’t get growth without looking at the whole picture.”

The Thursday meeting will take place at the Millville Public Library on 210 Buck Street. At the session, byway planners will work “…to identify areas in need of physical improvements such as gateways to communities, trailheads along the byway, potential locations for waysides and pullouts, and potential corridor-wide or other community-base enhancement needs.”

The group’s January meeting focused on preservation and conservation efforts along the route.