Road Work – You can put some of the blame on Covid, some on Monmouth County, some on lack of maintenance over the past hundred years. Maybe place some of the blame on the higher water table, or on the pace it takes to get permits and approvals for digging up a road and replacing sewer lines.
Whatever it is, Highlands residents and visitors can eliminate a lot of the stress about it by following all the updated messages online, all the road detour signs and on the Highlands borough official page to get through the next few months of sewer repairs.
The worst part of it is probably going to start within a couple of weeks and last through the summer. That’s when work will be taking place on Linden Avenue when that main artery coming into town by motorists traveling east will be closed during the day, weekdays only. For east bound motorists the only access to the lower Highlands will be at On the Hook turn, under the bridge and past Bahrs Restaurant.
The good news is it appears the mayor, council, administrator and certainly the police department are all on top of the action going on with the road work on a daily basis and working hard to keep the public informed.
For background, the borough is replacing sewer mains and laterals on Bay, Gravelly Point, Ocean, Central, Beach, Waterwitch, Linden, William Ralph and North streets, and the work is being done by low bidder Roman E&G. The $8.3 million cost of all this work is being funded in part through an American Rescue Fund grant together with a low-interest loan from the NJ Infrastructure Bank.
All the preparations, studies, application for funds and other paperwork were started in 2019. But is has all been slowed down for any number of reasons. Covid happened, creating problems in securing necessary workers and equipment, Roman itself faced a few issues in the supply chain, and then there was the County dictum, since Bay and Linden Avenues are county roads.
It appears whichever county officials oversee when roads can be repaired, doesn’t look at the inconvenience it costs local businesses or residents or even visitors. It appears that way since the County has a moratorium on working on county roads from December through March.
So even though Highlands, Roman and the necessary equipment was all set to go months ago, so most of the work could be completed before the summer season that brings in so many more people and so much more activity for local businesses, the work could not be started because of the County rule on tearing up its roads.
That means the work that could have been completed before the summer season that is so important to Highlands businesses really begins, will now be ongoing during the borough’s busiest time of year.
While Linden and Waterwitch avenues will certainly be impacted for motorists, there will be no problems through the end of the school year for those youngsters who walk to school. The crossing guards are as well informed and kept up to date on all the necessary precautions as always, and parents can be assured their children will continue to be safe walking to school.
While motorists and the business community should pay attention to the latest news on what’s happening, the current schedule for the next week calls for the mainline work continuing on Beach Blvd, once that’s done, the work crew will move on over to Waterwitch Avenue and start from the bottom, heading up the hill. At the same time, a lateral crew will start to install laterals on Central Avenue, and right now a mainline crew is installing an 18-inch pipe on North St. While all that is going on, deep wells are still being installed along Bay Avenue.
Borough Administrator Michael Muscillo continues to advise residents and visitors to pay attention to the latest updates, both online and on posted signage. since weather can impact the two-week schedules Roman puts out regularly to keep the public informed of which areas are impacted and how.
At the same time, the administrator is working with the contractor on revising schedules, with the plan for crews to be working longer hours Monday through Thursday, working towards limited disruptions Fridays through Sundays throughout the summer.
“Both our Administrator and Chief of Police are working on a daily basis with the contractor to ensure the least amount of disruption for everyone,” Mayor Carolyn Broullon said. “This is work that is essential to be completed and is really the first time any of these sewer lines have been replaced since they were first installed a century ago. The timing is making it particularly difficult for our businesses but that is out of our control,” she said.
Both the Mayor and Council Members commended residents for their patience in seeing the road work being completed, and urged their support of local businesses who may be adversely impacted by the road work and detours.
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