Borough Looks to Award Contract for Boulevard Upgrades

Borough officials are looking to award a bid next week for the next two phases of construction in the Boulevard Streetscape project, which would upgrade several streets with new pavers, curbs and lighting.

Officials rejected two earlier bids, arguing they were too high.

The borough has until Aug. 25 to meet a required deadline set by the state Department of Transportation, which is funding the project with grant money. 

The project will be done in phases  -  one street at a time - based on each grant the borough receives from the DOT. The borough has received four grants in the amount of $150,000 each to date. Each grant will go towards upgrades of one street along the Boulevard. The borough will add on an additional $50,000 towards the upgrades to each street.

, the borough is looking to work on phases three and four – Jefferson to Franklin and Franklin to Hamilton. The work has been combined into one project in order to save on costs and stay ahead of schedule with the project.

Borough Engineer Ken Job told the mayor and council last Tuesday that they hope to get more contractors involved in this next phase of bidding. Provided they receive an acceptable bid, borough officials can award a contract that night, he said. However, if it turns out they are unable to award a contract before the deadline, Job said he does not believe it would be an issue with the DOT as the borough has shown its due diligence by going out for bid twice before the deadline.

The in order to continue upgrading all the streets along the Boulevard up to the traffic circle at Passaic Avenue.