Water Street Delays Create 'Hardships' for Resident

For Lori Boxer, who lives off in , the over five-month closure of the street has been a physical and emotional hardship.

In an e-mail to Patch, Boxer, who lives on Marrisa Lane, listed the inconveniences caused by the traffic shut down and ever-changing reopening dates: "School buses can't get close enough for pick-up and drop-off; countless extra miles, hundreds of dollars spent for gas;   extra time spent having to leave home even earlier in the morning because cars back up on Rutgers waiting to make a left turn onto Wayside Road."

The steet was closed in August after a storm caused erosion along the banks of the Pine Brook and .

The borough, too, following the damage, like determing the extent of repair required and what type of funding officials were willing to commit to Water Street. Obtaining the necessary permits to perform the work from the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection took longer than anticipated and even delivery of materials has caused delays, pushing the initial completion date of Thanksgiving all the way to the end of February.

Updates on work to Water Street are now available on the borough's Web site. There, residents can find photos of the physical work on the project that began on Jan. 14 to stabilize the stream embankment and make the roadway safe for vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Borough Engineer David Marks said at the Feb. 7 council meeting that the road should be opened by the end of February.