CRANBURY: Town nixes Petty Road grant plan

By Kaitlyn Kanzler, Special Writer
   CRANBURY — Several residents from Petty Road protested the Township Committee’s decision not to seek Department of Transportation (DOT) road grants to fix the damaged road at the Oct. 8 meeting.
   After hearing the opinion of Township Engineer Bill Tanner, the committee concluded that Petty Road, which is in need of repair, would not be the road that they would apply for the state grant to fix, and voted to put Cranbury-Brickyard Road on the grant application instead.
   ”I can’t see (Petty Road) going into a grant at this time. We just don’t have enough information,” Mr. Tanner said. “The other grants we’re going for are simple.”
   According to Mr. Tanner, he reworked the cost of the repairs for Petty Road, which he estimated would total almost $1.1 million, an increase of $683,000 from the original estimated cost of $317,000. The $1.1 million does not include the costs of drainage survey’s, permits, and the engineering for the permits, Mr. Tanner said.
   ”This road is not the type of road you can take out some stuff and put a nice coat over top and say we’re done,” Mr. Tanner said. “I’m pretty sure that’s what they did in 1995 and it immediately started failing.”
   The road, re-paved in 1995, now has a mixture of cracks, broken off pavement, and dips from sunken drywells, causing dangerous driving conditions.
   Mr. Tanner said this solution was a “Band-Aid” to a much bigger problem.
   Several days after the initial paving in 1995, the cracks started appearing in the road and the township had to have it fixed again, according to resident Connie Bauder.
   Mr. Tanner said many townships wait 20-25 years to repair roads after the ultraviolet radiation from the sun starts to shrivel and crack the asphalt.
   ”You’re talking about a Band-Aid that lasted 15 years? If you put a Band-Aid on it that’s going to last (that long), why go whole hog on a big operation for only 20 years?” resident David Martin, who has lived on Petty Road since 1980, said.
   ”Petty Road is, for lack of a better word, probably a disservice because it’s so horrible,” Council member Jay Taylor said.
   Mayor David Cook said the grant money wouldn’t cover the scope of this project and Mr. Tanner agreed.
   Mr. Tanner said that the grant money would just about cover the cost of the drainage studies needed to determine where to send the water run-off.
   According to Mr. Tanner, the cost of the surveys could range between $50,000 and $100,000.
   ”I’m still not sure I’ve got the right number because I have no idea how big this drainage problem is and where we’d take the water,” Mr. Tanner said.
   According to Mr. Tanner, the township could take another look at the road in the spring to see if the condition had deteriorated any further.
   Business Administrator Denise Marabello said the Petty Road repair project would be put under the capital plan in next year’s budget.
   For the township to tackle Petty Road, it would first need to focus on the drainage problem, figure out who the easements along the properties belong to since it is unclear, design and install a drainage system, and then fix the road, according to Mr. Tanner.
   The committee voted on which road to choose to put on the grant application before asking the public for comment, which upset many residents.
   ”It was very disappointing that the committee did not take public comment before making (its) decision,” committee candidate Tom Connolly said in an email.
   According to Peter Connolly, who lives on Petty Road, several business associates also complained about how terrible the condition of the road is.
   ”The road is embarrassing for the people that live (there),” Peter Connolly said. “There’s nothing (in town) that looks like this road.”
   After one resident suggested expanding the road, Mr. Martin told the council that if the road was expanded, he believes speeding would increase.
   According to Mr. Martin, speeding is a regular occurrence on Petty Road and many drivers don’t realize that there are houses there because much of the area is farm land.
   Grant applications were due to be returned to the state on Oct. 18.
   The committee applied for a grant to continue the downtown beautification and a grant for the milling and re-paving of Cranbury-Brickyard Road.