State helps pay for Dublin sidewalks

The $50,000 the township will receive is part of a $508,000 package of Livable Communities grants.

By John Tredrea
   A $50,000 grant to Hopewell Township from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) will cover nearly one-third of the estimated cost of building sidewalks on the northern end of Dublin Road.
   The townshipwide tax base will cover the balance of the cost.
   The grant, from the DOT’s Livable Communities program, was announced by outgoing Mayor Jon Edwards during the township’s annual reorganization meeting Jan. 2.
   "It’s great news," Mr. Edwards said, extending the township’s thanks to state Sen. Shirley Turner (D-15th), who attended the reorganization. Mr. Edwards, still a member of the Township Committee, was replaced by Francesca Bartlett as mayor during the reorganization (see separate story).
   The sidewalks, 1,300 feet in length, will be built along the eastern side of the northern end of Dublin Road as a measure to increase the safety of pedestrians, including students at Hopewell Valley Central High School and Timberlane Middle School.
   Timberlane is just west of the high school, which stands opposite the northern end of Dublin Road. About a mile and a half long, Dublin Road is narrow, hilly and has no sidewalks. Near its southern terminus, on Pennington-Washington Crossing Road, is Merrill Lynch’s large office park, Southfields.
   It was about two years ago that township government began grappling with the issue of how to increase pedestrian safety on a road that had two schools at one end and, with the ongoing construction of Southfields, a large corporate installation on the other. Beginning about a year ago, left turns were banned onto Dublin Road during peak hours.
   The state grant will be used to help pay off a $160,000 bond ordinance, adopted by the Township Committee last month, to pay for the Dublin Road sidewalks.
   The $50,000 the township will receive is part of a $508,000 package of Livable Communities grants.
   Sen. Turner’s office announced Friday that Pennington Borough will receive one of the grants, as well. The $40,000 grant to the borough will be used for its Streetscape project. That project is designed to improve and spruce up the borough’s downtown commercial area.