Bell, Springfield, Walter Avenue Top Road Improvement List

The borough is moving ahead with plans to repave a handful of roads in need of improvements, working towards getting the project started as soon as possible.

The list of roads, which is still being finalized, includes Bell Avenue (from Oak Grove to Terrace), Springfield (from Wood Street to the Dead End) and Walter Avenue (from the Boulevard to Oak Grove) as top priority.

Officials have also listed Harrison Avenue (from Boulevard to Summit), Burr Place (from Henry to the cul-de-sac) and the DPW recycling yard at 1 Plant Road as additional roads to be repaved this year provided funding allows.

Some fieldwork has already been done as a first step, Borough Engineer Ken Job explained. He suggested the borough work to get the project started as soon as possible to save on costs as the price of blacktop is expected to rise by $10 per ton over the summer.

Raymond Avenue was also slated to be repaved this year however Job explained it has been pushed off for now due to a housing construction project planned for the corner of Burton and Raymond.  He said it would be best to wait until after those homes are constructed before repaving the street. 

Councilwoman Sonya Buckman suggested that Raymond then be placed at the top of the priority list so that it will taken care of in the next phase of road improvements so those residents know their area will be taken care of next.

According to Mike Kronyak, borough administrator and CFO, the total expected cost for all the work, including the alternate roads, amounts to about $550,000.

Provided bids received don’t exceed this amount the borough should be able to get all this slated roadwork done, he explained. Kronyak will put together an ordinance to allocate the funding in time for the May council meeting.