Oakland Street Residents Want To See Roadwork Done As Soon As Possible

Matthew Hersh

For some Oakland Street residents, there is a movement to reduce the width of the street and add grassy "green strips" with trees along the roadway to soften the road's appearance.

For others, there are major drainage concerns that need addressing. Chronic flooding around some inlets on Oakland has, according to at least one resident, caused significant basement flooding and wall cracking.

But the consensus is clear: what all residents on Oakland Street want is for Princeton Township's $200,000 improvement project and $12,000 sidewalk installation project to get underway‹and the sooner the better

Earlier this month, the Township introduced an ordinance for the $12,000 sidewalk project that will cost $315 per resident whose property is affected, to be paid over 10 years. At that July 13 hearing, Oakland Street resident R. William Potter said that if the Township were to approve the sidewalk installation on the Valley Road side of the street, (which it did Monday night with a 5-0 vote), then Committee should consider placing a green strip next to the sidewalk and narrowing the width of the road from its current 30 feet.

Committee did consider it and agreed to reduce the width of the road to no-less-than 28 feet. Dean Meade of Oakland Street said the Township should use the construction project to resolve some of the poor drainage in that area. Mr. Meade said the storm inlet in front of his house catches stormwater from more than two blocks away, starting at Hillside Road, coming down Ewing Street, across Valley Road, and flowing onto Oakland to "form a big pond" in front of his house.

"Not all that water goes down that storm sewer; a significant fraction seeps into the groundwater under my house," he said, adding that recent storms have caused $1,000 of damage.

The construction, he said, "needs to be done, and needs to be done soon.

"I'm here because of my impatience with this project not getting going."

Mr. Meade added that the Township's proposal to install Belgian-block curbing "would do a lot" to prevent water from going onto his property.

Mary Stachowicz, a resident of nearby Walnut Lane, worried that reducing the width of Oakland would place spatial constraints on emergency vehicles. She added that there is increased parking on Oakland and surrounding roads when there are special events at John Witherspoon Middle School and that could also complicate access for emergency vehicles.

Mr. Potter said the road width reduction would not impede emergency vehicles, citing Moore Street as a 27-foot-wide collector road that provides access to emergency vehicles.

At the June 13 hearing, Mr. Potter had called on the Township to reduce the width of the street to 24 feet, a request that was quickly ruled out by Mayor Phyllis Marchand.

"There are many, many streets that are not 30 feet wide or even 28 feet wide," Mr. Potter said. "If there really is a safety issue...it's really not evident at all."

However, Ronald DiLapo, fire official at the Princeton Township Bureau of Fire Prevention, said a 30-foot width is "preferred" for emergency vehicle access.

The $12,000 sidewalk installation will be split equally among 18 of the 19 property owners. Normally, only residents whose property is effected by the sidewalk installation are assessed a fee for installation, but, under a petition put together by resident Scott Glenfield, most of the property owners have agreed to divide the assessment.

In other business, Committee approved: a $44,550 bond ordinance authorizing sewer lateral repairs for properties along Littlebrook Road and Tyson Lane with a 100 percent assessment to residents; a $44,000 bond ordinance providing for new sidewalks along Springdale Road with a 50 percent cost assessment to residents; and a $6.72 million bond ordinance for sewer system rehabilitation throughout the Township.

Committee also approved an ordinance to establish a mutual aid agreement for emergency police services between the municipalities of Mercer County. In special situations, police services from other towns could be employed.

Committee introduced three ordinances: a $25,000 bond ordinance to install or replace sidewalks on a portion of Sycamore Road with a 50 percent cost assessment to residents, with a companion $26,175 bond ordinance to improve sewer lateral repairs along Sycamore; and a $35,000 bond ordinance to repair or replace sidewalks along the north side of Clearview Avenue between Grover Avenue and Harrison Street with a 50 percent cost assessment to residents.

Public hearings for the three introduced ordinances will occur at Committee's regular July 18 session.