Promise of Smooth Roads Becomes Reality? Township Roads to be Smooth in September

Matthew Hersh

They says it's a long way from May to December, but residents should be driving smoothly come September, according to Township officials. Nursing its wounds from the worst winter in years, Princeton Township is underway with a $6 million road paving and improvement project that should calm the nerves of agitated drivers throughout the area.

So far, the Township's Department of Public Works has completed projects on McCosh Circle, Magnolia Lane, Broadripple Drive, Morgan Place, and Parkside Drive.

Roads the department aims to have completed by Labor Day are Oakland Street, Harris Road, and Carnegie Drive.

Those roads, which are in-house jobs for Public Works, have cost $250,000 for the materials alone.

A separate, $1.3 million paving job by the private contractor Pave Rite, Inc. of Bridgewater, has already seen the completion of Winfield Road, Hunt Drive, Lambert Drive, Pardee Circle, Bayard Lane, Duffield Place, Old Orchard Lane, Herrontown Road (between Route 206 and Mt. Lucas Road), and Poor Farm Road. Pave Rite is currently working on completing Mt. Lucas Road between Ewing Street and the Montgomery Township line. Those projects should be complete next week, said Township Engineer Robert Kiser.

Once that is completed, he added, the remaining section of Herrontown Road between Bunn Drive and River Road will be completed, and Terhune Road between Mt. Lucas Road and Harrison Street. Mr. Kiser said he expects Herrontown Road to be completed by Labor Day, and Terhune slated for completion by the end of September.

Other road improvement projects along Lake and Knoll Drives should be done in about three weeks, with Walnut Lane, Cuyler Road, Hillside Road, and Loomis Court to be finished by the end of September.

Once completed, Mr. Kiser said, the roads should have a life of 20 years or longer. Some of the roads have not been improved in over 30 years, according to Don Hansen, superintendent of Public Works.