Several projects are planned to improve the roadways in Bordentown Township.
By: William Wichert
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP Township officials are looking to improve the quality of local roadways with a series of upcoming projects.
The municipality is preparing for work to be done on Old Highbridge, Hogback, and Valley Forge roads. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) also is preparing to build a connector road between Rising Sun Road and Route 206.
The first of these four projects to get underway will be the total reconstruction and drainage of Old Highbridge Road. At its April 12 meeting, the Township Committee awarded a $216,313.13 contract to Farmingdale-based Earle Asphalt Company.
Within the next two months, this company is expected to tear up and modernize a roadway that has suffered severe cracking with every succeeding winter, said Public Works Director Victor Pangia Jr. The project will take about three weeks to complete, he said.
That’s because Old Highbridge Road was originally built in the "oil and chip" method, in which an oil-based formula is sprayed on dirt to give it an asphalt look, said Mr. Pangia. The problem arises after the roadway freezes in the winter and starts to crack, he said.
"Back in the ’50s and ’60s on country roads, that was protocol," said Mr. Pangia, adding that this method was sufficient for an area that was less populated than the one today.
Proposals for two of the other road projects have already been submitted to the DOT as part of the township’s 2006 municipal aid application. The application, which was approved at the April 12 meeting, includes a request for $248,019.75 to eliminate a hump in Hogback Road between Groveville Road and Route 130.
"From a safety point of view and a structural point of view, that stretch of road is pretty bad," said Mr. Pangia.
The township wants to remove that hilly part of Hogback Road because of its proximity to the entranceway of the Village Grande at Crosswicks Creek development, said Mr. Pangia.
When residents from this development drive onto Hogback Road and look to the right, the hump prevents them from seeing approaching cars, he said. "It’s inevitable that something will happen there," said Mr. Pangia.
The municipal aid application to the DOT also lists a request for $498,350.60 to construct the Joseph Lawrence Bike Path/Pedestrian Way between Valley Forge Road and other adjacent roadways.
Mr. Pangia said this path would give students living in that township section a more direct and safer means of reaching the Peter Muschal Elementary School and the new Bordentown Regional High School on Ward Avenue. The high school is expected to open in September 2006.
While the DOT must still approve these two projects, the state agency has already allotted about $13.8 million of its $2.7 billion 2006 capital program to construct a connector road between Rising Sun Road and Route 206, according to a report found on the DOT Web site, www.state.nj.us/transportation.
The project, which is expected to cost about $26 million, is intended to ease the congestion caused by traffic coming off of Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike, according to the DOT report. The work will also include pavement rehabilitation on Old York Road and Rising Sun Road, the report states.