Gloucester Township Microsurfacing Project Comes Under Fire

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Later this summer, Gloucester Township has two microsurfacing projects scheduled, with one on New Hampshire Road in Brittany Woods and one on Heritage Hill Drive, Penns Grove Court and Chesterwood Place, off of Peter Cheesman Lane.

Microsurfacing is a temporary fix applied to a street surface that consists of applying a mixture of water, very small crushed rock and chemical additives to the existing surface. It is applied in order to help preserve and protect the underlying pavement structure and provide a new driving surface. Roads chosen for microsurfacing application generally have low to moderate distress and narrow crack width.

Microsurfacing was applied in the Mulberry Station neighborhood, but the streets are already tearing apart 18 months after the project was completed, according to Gloucester Township resident David Brown. Brown has appeared before council at the last several meetings to discuss the issues in his neighborhood.

“It took 17 years to get paved,” Brown said.

Since the initial microsurfacing, the township came out to see the neighborhood and acknowledged that the paving company did a poor job in his neighborhood. They fixed the issue, but Brown is looking for a permanent fix.

Following the Gloucester Township Council meeting on June 26, Councilman Dan Hutchison said he would come out and walk the neighborhood with Brown. Hutchison came out a few days later and toured Mulberry Station, Brown said.

“Then he showed me some of the other roads that need work,” said Brown, who agreed that the roads Hutchison showed him were in worse shape than those in his neighborhood.

Brown was appreciative of Hutchison’s efforts to come see his neighborhood. He also remains concerned about the overall cost of road work in his neighborhood as the township implements temporary fixes before a permanent solution is put in place.

At the June 26 meeting, township officials said the cost to microsurface a road is between 10 percent and 15 percent of the total cost to fully repave a road. So a road that would cost $10,000 to fully repave costs $1,500 to microsurface. On the other hand, a fully repaved road lasts about 20 to 25 years longer than one that is microsurfaced.

• Dittess Lane;
• Laguna Drive;
• East Blenheim Avenue from Fairview Avenue to Woodland Road;
• Roberts Drive from Somerdale Road to Wyngate Road;
• Roberts Place;
• Dorset Place and Dorset Court (including drainage improvements);
• Stoney Bridge Road;
• Cressmont Avenue from Estelle Street to High Street;
• Drexel Avenue from Lehigh Street to Estelle Street; and
• Hampton Lane.

• Manor Place;
• Beechwood Place; and
• Winding Way from willow Place to Coventry Place.

• Broadacres Drive: From Little Gloucester Road easterly for 1,200 feet;
• Orchard Avenue: Somerdale Road to High Street;
• Millbridge Road: From Candlestick Road to Mystic Road; and
• Lincoln Drive at the intersection with North Fork Road.

The following full reconstruction projects begin in the early fall:

• Cherrywood Drive: from Blackwood Clementon Drive to Broadacres Drive;Edgewood Drive; full length off of Cherrywood Drive;
• 10th Avenue in Glendora: From Black Horse Pike to Glendora Avenue; and
• Prospect Place full length off of Prospect Land.

In addition, there are two proposed traffic signal improvements that may or may not require road work. Schedule is depending on the county’s comments and possible financing. Those projects are the Kearsley Road and Berlin Cross Keys Road intersection, and the Mullen Drive and Sicklerville Road intersection.

Other paving projects may be added, especially if the township receives any grants, officials said in an email. The above represents what is now planned for this year.

“Do you want us to spend millions of dollars to upgrade roads? Your taxes are going to go up,” Hutchison said before offering to come see Brown’s neighborhood.

to benefit the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority (TTFA) can be used for Gloucester Township.

However, according to the state’s website, those funds are earmarked for the "planning, acquisition, engineering, construction, reconstruction, repair, and rehabilitation of the state's transportation system."

Patch file photo