SPOTSWOOD – Borough officials are planning a number of upgrades toWyoming Avenue, including repaving, drainage improvements, curbs and sidewalks.
The total cost for the project is slated to be more than $1 million, according to Council President Curt Stollen. The work will likely be done in stages, with the drainage work first, in order to limit the financial impact, he said.
The borough has received more than $300,000 in grant funding to help pay for the work.
The project is complicated by the varying needs that exist on the road. However, the entire road will be repaved, and curbs will run along the entire road. Also, a portion of the road, starting fromRosedaleAvenue,will be widened. Officials were also pursuing the installation of sidewalks on a portion of the road.
The upper end of Wyoming Avenue was improved when a recent development was put in. It needs no widening or sidewalks, just curbs and drainage work to alleviate flooding problems, Stollen said. That section runs form Burlington Avenue to Rosedale Avenue.
Wyoming Avenue parallels Adirondack Avenue, and was not a through street until about five years ago, he said. It is a lengthy roadway by borough standards and is “fairly heavily” traveled because it serves an alternative to themore congestedAdirondackAvenue.
Stollen saidmuch of the road is very narrow, and the road is in poor condition.
The sidewalks are needed because the Appleby Elementary School is in the vicinity and Spotswood is a walking district.
The borough initially believed the work would not be so expansive, but the more the area was studied, the clearer it became that a lot of construction was needed, he said.
“It turned into a bigger and bigger deal,” Stollen said, adding that there are significant drainage issues, as well as the need for more sidewalks and curbs.
Stollen said a special meeting with residents of Wyoming Avenue was held so that officials could find outwhat the residents are interested in.
“A lot of residents came out,” he said.