The Eggerts Crossing neighborhood has been neglected, and this is an attempt to remedy the problem, Mayor Michael Powers said.
By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
Since the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood was settled about 100 years ago, many homeowners in the neighborhood have depended on wells for their water and on fuel oil or propane gas to heat their homes because of the lack of public water and natural gas lines in the street.
But Township Council approved a $1.2 million grant application to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-12th, to install public water and natural gas lines in the 13 streets in the neighborhood. The grant application was submitted to Rep. Holt’s office Feb. 28.
The Eggerts Crossing neighborhood is bordered by Eggerts Crossing Road, Drift Avenue, Rolfe Avenue, Ewing Township and the Shabakunk Creek. Eggerts Crossing includes a substantial number of black residents, many of whom have family ties that date back to the neighborhood’s rural beginnings more than a century ago.
Mayor Michael Powers said that efforts to install utility lines is a "question of equity." The Eggerts Crossing neighborhood has been neglected, and this is an attempt to remedy the problem, he said.
"Eggerts Crossing is a part of the township that has been left behind," Mayor Powers said. "It’s on the other side of the tracks. Now, this (grant application) is an opportunity to get them caught up with the rest of the township."
Harold Vereen, president of the Eggerts Crossing Civic League, declined to comment.
Rep. Holt also declined to comment on specific requests such as this one because all appropriations requests are pending before the Appropriations Committee, according to spokesman Patrick Eddington.
The grant application seeks funding to pay for installing natural gas and public water lines on Albermarle Road, Craigie Avenue, Hillcrest Avenue, Landover Road, Locust Avenue and Orchard Lane.
It also calls for money to install water lines on Ardmore Avenue, Cheverly Road, Emden Avenue, Newberry Avenue, Rose Street and Zoar Avenue. Those street already have natural gas lines.
The Eggerts Crossing Civic League has been pushing township officials to install utilities in the neighborhood since 2002, as part of a redevelopment effort. Township officials do not know how many properties would be affected by the installation of utility lines.
Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun said the grant would pay for installing the utility lines in the street, but it would not pay to have the utility lines connected to a resident’s house. It would be up to the property owner to decide whether to connect to water or natural gas lines, he said.
If a property owner decided to hook up to a utility line, the cost of installing the utility line from the street to the house would be borne by the property owner, Mr. Krawczun said. It is not possible to estimate how much it would cost to connect a house to a utility, because each property is unique, he added.
"It is the homeowner’s choice to tie into a utility," Mr. Krawczun said. "Lawrence Township is putting the utility in the roadway."
In 2002, a group of Rutgers University graduate students studied the neighborhood as a class project, sparking the push for redevelopment. The report suggested installing utilities where they are lacking, and building new housing in the neighborhood including new units on a 3.5-acre lot on Johnson Avenue that is owned by the township.
The graduate students’ report also recommended redesigning the Johnson Trolley right-of-way to be more aesthetically pleasing, and to landscape the area in front of the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center on Eggerts Crossing Road.
Township Council rejected plans to build housing on the Johnson Avenue parcel in February, opting instead to place in the township’s Green Acres inventory over the objections of the Eggerts Crossing Civic League and some township residents.
Although new housing has not been built, the township expanded Gilpin Park on Johnson Avenue and also landscaped the Johnson Trolley right-of-way, which is part of the township’s Greenway walking path system. The area in front of the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center also has been landscaped.

