The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission awarded the township $360,000 for improvements to Rocktown-Lambertville Road.
By: Linda Seida
WEST AMWELL The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission has awarded West Amwell a $360,000 grant for improvements to Rocktown-Lambertville Road.
Township Mayor Ron Shapella said the "very generous grant" is "very important in continuing the resurfacing of Rocktown-Lambertville Road, which really needs it. It’s work that’s definitely needed. It’s a country road with a lot of wear and tear and patching here and there."
The grant will pay for the milling, widening and resurfacing of 1,500 feet of Rocktown-Lambertville Road, an 18-foot-wide asphalt road with 2-foot-wide shoulders. The road will be widened to 22 feet with 2-foot shoulders, and drainage improvements also will be made.
No word is available on when the work might begin. The township hasn’t received the paperwork concerning the grant yet, Clerk Lora Olsen said Monday.
"We don’t now all the particulars yet," she said.
Mayor Shapella said the township has been working on different segments of the road through the years. This segment funded by the commission grant would extend east from the Mt. Airy-Harbourton Road intersection, he said.
The award was one of three grants totaling $1.1 million announced April 30.
The grants represent the seventh round of funding in the commission’s $40 million grant program aimed at easing congestion and improving traffic conditions on and around its bridges. So far, the commission has awarded $35 million in grants to river communities for transportation-related funding.
In addition to the grant awarded to West Amwell, the commission awarded grants last week to two Pennsylvania towns.
Riegelsville was awarded a $77,450 grant for the construction of a new pedestrian stairway and footbridge.
Morrisville was awarded $703,000 in grants to support two separate projects.
"These grants recognize the important role our river communities play in hosting commission bridges," commission Executive Director Frank G. McCartney said in a written statement. "They will help improve traffic flow and reduce congestion and assist the commission in providing safe and efficient river crossings."
The commission’s Compact Authorized Investment Program awarded the first round of grants in September 2005.
The commission was formed in 1934 by Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It operates seven toll and 11 free bridges plus two pedestrian bridges along the Delaware River from Trenton-Morrisville to the New York border. More than 135 million cars and trucks use the bridges annually.