ROAD REPAVING BEGINS IN SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
City-wide annual road work program includes infrastructure repair
Asbury Park’s city-wide road repaving projects have shifted to the southwest quadrant, according to Tuesday afternoon news statement.
Transportation Manager Michael Manzella, Mayor John Moor and Councilman Jesse Kendle on Washington Avenue.
Put in place last year through City Council approval, the annual road repaving program addresses the city’s worst streets, launching repair work for the first time in over five years.
Road repaving began this month along Prospect and Washington avenues, officials said. Other repair work is being done on Park Avenue, a portion of Dunlewey Street, and Steiner Place. Work will begin on Sunset Avenue and on Fourth Avenue from Ridge Avenue to Memorial Drive this summer.
“We’re off to a running start at this road program in 2017, with five to six roads getting worked on in a relatively short period of time,” Mayor John Moor said. “After this year, the program will continue to cover one to three roads per year. Before too long, we hope to have a majority of Asbury Park’s roads repaved.”
The mill and pave roadwork is being done in conjunction with the inspection of sanitary sewers and storm management facilities, officials said. If utilities need to be replaced, the road is then entirely reconstructed, from the sewer lines to the catch basins to the final asphalt overlay.
“A simple mill-and-pave is much more affordable than a complete sewer reconstruction, and we [will] do as much as we can with our available funding,” Moor said.
Approximately one-third of the paving funding is provided by a New Jersey Department of Transportation grant issued in 2016. Gov Chris Christie’s July issued Transportation Trust Fund freeze stayed work until now, officials said.
“Resurfacing the streets on an ongoing basis is more than improving the cosmetic appearance of the City,” Councilwoman Eileen Chapman said. “Repaving makes roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars, it prolongs the life and use of vehicles in Asbury Park, it adds to a sense of pride in your street and your block.”
Also coming on line this year will be the repaving of Asbury Avenue, owned by Monmouth County, and the state Department of Transportation has informed city officials that the repaving Main Street could begin this fall.
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