Road Paving & Street Improvement Projects Planned for the Borough

The borough will be undertaking some road repaving and improvement projects this year, one of which will be funded by a grant provided by the New Jersey Department of Transportation. 

The NJ DOT recently allocated $173,127 to the borough to complete Phase IV of the River Road Streetscape Project.

Al Maiocchi, who is with the borough's grant consultants Capital Alternatives, said at Monday night's work session that New Milford's award was the highest of any grant given by the DOT in all of Bergen County last year.

Maiocchi worked for the DOT for more than 36 years and was an engineer with them, giving final approval on many projects similar to those the borough will seek grants to complete.

The River Road Streetscape Project has been worked on in stages over the past nine years.

"We completed Phases I through III, starting in 2002 and covering River Road from Reichelt Road to Linden Place," said Borough Administrator Christine Demiris, in an e-mail last week.

The Phase IV work will include the replacement of deteriorated curbs, replacement of current sidewalks with a combination of sidewalks and brick pavers, curb ramps with warning surfaces and textured pavement crosswalks at the intersection of River Road and Henley Avenue. The work will also include decorative lighting and the placement of benches and trash bins.

"The engineer and the grants consultant are working together to determine how much of this area will be covered by the recent DOT award," said Demiris.

The borough is also looking to complete paving work on other streets which would be paid for out of the capital budget. Demiris said the council has, "yet to determine or approve the capital budget for 2011," which would affect the final approved list of streets to be paved.

At Monday night's work session, the mayor and council heard from their grants consultants and received preliminary feedback on which streets have the best shot at qualifying for other DOT grants.

The borough's tentative budget includes $200,000 for paving. The $50,000 that is generally allocated annually for the curbing work was eliminated from the budget for 2011.

The borough belongs to a purchasing cooperative to obtain the best rates possible for getting paving work done, according to the mayor and council at recent meetings. The Riverside Cooperative now includes 11 towns as members, including New Milford. Paving will take place on Luhmann Drive this year but that will be funded under the 2010 cooperative paving program since other projects came in under budget.

At a recent meeting, Demiris gave council members a list of streets that were recommended for repaving along with a tentative estimated cost for each street's costs. Council members and the mayor prioritized those streets that needed repairs and also fit within the $200,000 paving cost cap as outlined in the proposed municipal capital budget for 2011.

The final list of streets to be paved in 2011 was still being formulated, Demiris said. Maiocchi, who drove around the borough assessing various streets, gave his feedback on roads around the borough that could be repaved and that might qualify for DOT grants.

"One road that has never been done is Center Street," said Maiocchi. "That road has a lot going for it and would come up high in DOT rating system."

Maiocchi and Marlene Casey, also from Capital Alternatives, explained that there is a point system for qualifying for their grants. In order to win a grant, streets must hit a certain number of points.

Both Maiocchi and Casey said streets that had been paved in years past with DOT funds may be eligible to be repaved.

"The DOT has streets in town that are classified because you got funding on them in past years," said Maiocchi. "I rode up Boulevard this morning and there are sections of that which could be resurfaced especially where it meets Graphic which is horrendous."

Casey said Maiocchi had come across a new category of grants where the borough could submit to the DOT for special discretionary funds.

"It has no deadline," said Casey. "Holland Avenue—for years I’ve been trying to do it and with this separate discretionary fund there is money for culverts."

Casey said the culvert is "undersized" and the borough's DPW has been repairing it for the past 20 years. Mayor Ann Subrizi suggested another culvert for consideration as well, Martin Place where the French Brook runs underneath Boulevard.

Council members and the mayor gave Maiocchi other streets to evaluate for submission for DOT grants.

The mayor and council will wait for Maiocchi to review more of the streets and culverts suggested to him at the work session before rendering a final decision on which streets will be submitted for grants.