Road Repair In Marlboro A 'Central Fixture' Of Capital Plan

MARLBORO, NJ — A $35 million dollar road improvement program will roll out over seven years under a capital plan approved by the Township Council at a recent meeting, according to Mayor Jonathan Hornik.

The program is an extension of the town's four-prong, $10 million dollar road repair initiative of 2018, continuing to make road repair the central fixture of the township’s capital plan, he said.

The township has completed more than $15 million of road improvements since 2018, the mayor's office said, adding that the 2022 capital investment in roads will be the largest investment in road improvements in the township’s history. The Township Council approved the measure at its June 16 meeting.

Hornik said the aging of township infrastructure, aggravated by extreme weather events, and the township’s strong financial position are behind the timing of this proposal.

"Marlboro Township housing was largely built out in the 1980s and 1990s, and as a result previous administrations were able to avoid making any down payments on infrastructure. Those areas of town are now decades old and require even more attention in our capital program,” Hornik said in a news release.

“Changing weather patterns have also brought more severe weather our way over the last
several years. Snow and freezing temperatures have accelerated the wear and tear on our
roadways and aggressive snow removal activities have taken a toll,” he said.

He said the road improvements were "substantially ramped up" with the 2018 $10 million road improvement initiative.

"With Marlboro’s debt load well below statutory limits, and triple-A bond ratings from
both S&P and Moody’s, now is a prudent time to continue our progress on investments in
critical infrastructure,” he said in the release.

Before the 2018 $10 million initiative, the township’s annual commitment to road
reconstruction averaged between $1.5 and $3 million, with additional funding to match
federal and state grants when available, the news release said.

Since 2001, Marlboro Township has repaved 173 complete and 41 partial roads totaling
approximately 294,000 linear feet or 55 miles of roadway, the news release says.

This does not include many of Marlboro’s busiest roads and intersections such as Routes 9, 520 and 79 and Tennent Road that are under the jurisdictions of the state or county. The township continues to work with the appropriate authority to address the state and county intersections and roads that are of concern.

“Marlboro consists of 200 miles of township-owned roads across 32.5 square miles,” said Hornik.

“With a price tag of more than half a million dollars to reconstruct one mile of road, it
has been an understandably slow and frustrating process,” he said.

As with the 2018 road improvement program, communication will continue to be key, he said.

Road construction updates will be sent via email to residents who have registered to receive e-blasts.

Additionally, updates will be made to the road construction section of the website, including an
ongoing list of state and county intersections improvement projects and the status of each. There also are a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) entry about township road construction, traffic updates, road construction notices and project bid specifications.

The link to the Pothole Portal can be found here or on the township homepage. Originally launched in 2014, it allows the residents who drive the streets every day to help direct township resources to those areas most in need. The update places the user-entered complaint directly into the internal township tracking system, allowing for more efficient response. Thousands of potholes have been reported on line.

The township’s 2022 Road Improvements Report with the list of local roads under consideration will be finalized after the Township Council authorization is in place, the engineering design contract is authorized, and the bid specifications are completed, the news release added.