East Brunswick Roadwork Projects Ahead Of Schedule, Says Mayor

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – For sometime now, residents have been asking township officials about the various roadworks going on in town, including the timeframe.

During Monday’s Council meeting, Mayor Brad Cohen gave the community a report on the ongoing road projects, saying the township was well ahead of schedule.

“We are actually ahead of schedule for most of the work for the township’s 180 miles of roads,” Cohen said.

“We contribute somewhere between $2-$4 million to getting those pavement projects done. We are pretty much done with most of them and the summer hasn't even officially begun.”

Some of the roads that the township really hasn’t gotten to are those on the school bus routes. Cohen said the township was deliberately holding off on them until summer break, as it would pose problems with bussing.

East Brunswick also has major projects funded by the Transportation Trust Fund that they would be undertaking this year.

“The first one is already in the process of being worked on, which is on Whitehall, which includes also a contribution from the Water Department for repairing some of those water lines,” Cohen said.

The other is the long-awaited project on Tices Lane, which will be done in two different sections, the Mayor explained.

“There's Tices Lane, that is going to be done from Old Bridge Turnpike to Route 18. And then there's from Ryders Lane to just about University Place,” Cohen said.

The responsibility to construct some portions falls on the developers who are working on projects in the area of Tices Lane.

The developers of Legacy Place apartments will be responsible for the section from Route 18 to Renee Road where the intersection is being worked on, and the developer of Hidden Oaks is responsible for the remainder of the roadwork all the way to University Place, Cohen said.

“Then there is the work being done on Route 18, which is a project that's funded by the Department of Transportation,” Cohen said. “It's getting funding from the federal government. But that's a state highway, we have no control over that other than the fact that the water lines that exist underneath Route 18 are township water lines. And in order to upgrade those water lines, if we don't do it now, while the work is being done, then it will be our expense completely.”

Cohen asked residents to remain patient as the roadwork projects have been long overdue and will be done in phases.

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