With Roads Project Winding Down, Will Smooth Sailing Soon Prevail?

Matthew Hersh

The largest road paving project in Princeton Township history is beginning to slow down, and if everything goes as planned, many of the poor road conditions that alarmed drivers in the first place "should" be smoothed ever as residents get back to their normal driving patterns, according to Township Engineer Robert Kiser.

Coming in at $8.2 million, 11 miles overall, Princeton Township's 2005 road resurfacing and reconstruction project just about doubles any seasonal roads project in the town's history.

And while a number of roads have been reconstructed or repaved this summer, the one logjam for drivers has been the Great Road, which has largely been closed or reduced to one lane for the last month. A major artery in and out of Princeton, not to mention the access point to Princeton Day School, the Great Road is, it seems ready to resurface.

"The focus over this past month has been the Great Road," Mr. Kiser said. "This is a major one. The amount of work, in addition to the curbing and the bike path, proved to be a major project." The $150,000 resurfacing project on the Great Road included work by Elizabethtown Water Co. for the installation of a new water main.

"It was a massive coordinating project," Mr. Kiser said.

Township officials had initially feared that delays or inclement weather would postpone the opening of the Great Road until after PDS goes back into session ‹ a logistical nightmare for drivers and school buses. But there were few delays, Mr. Kiser said, adding that flow should be further eased at the school entrance once a new traffic signal is installed at the PDS entrance in late September. That light is being placed in conjunction with a new traffic signal to the north at the intersection of the Great Road and Cherry Valley Road, currently a four-way stop that straddles the Township/Montgomery Township municipal line. That light is expected to be put in place some time in 2006.

The portion of Harrison Street near the Princeton Shopping Center has been entirely resurfaced as part of a $1.47 million project.

Other projects slated for completion this week include Edgerstoune Road; Bunn Drive, with new curbing; and pathways from Poor Farm Road to Harrison Street. A contract has been awarded for a traffic signal at the intersection of Bunn and Harrison and is expected to be installed by the end of next month.

Work on Littlebrook Road and Tyson Place is slated for completion in the late fall, Mr. Kiser said, as sanitary work continues to be scheduled. Once school begins, drivers and buses will continue to use Magnolia Place as the primary drop-off for Littlebrook Elementary.

The Snowden Lane project, which has closed off a portion of that road, is expected to be completed by mid-October. Work on the entire stretch from Braeburn to Nassau includes drainage, curb, and pathway installation.

Sycamore Road is expected to have utility work and sanitary sewer work done in the late fall.

Carnahan Place, Oakland Street, Clearview Avenue, Dorann Avenue, Tee-Ar Place, and Grover Avenue, Lovers Lane, portions of Winant and Edgerstoune roads, Springdale Road, Terhune Road, and parts of the Glen and Autumn Hill developments are also on the list of roads the Township is addressing this summer.