Hackensack seeks to bond $758K for road and pedestrian improvementsFriday, May 31, 2013
BY JENNIFER VAZQUEZ
NEWS EDITOR
Hackensack Chronicle
The Hackensack Council seeks to bond a total of $758,000 — in an effort to improve pedestrian safety and roads — after introducing two ordinances during the May 21 council meeting.
Euclid Avenue is one of the many streets that city officials hope to repave. A number of other streets and intersections around Hackensack will be repaved or will receive an upgrade for pedestrian safety. A combination of bonds and grants will fund the projects. BERNADETTE MARCINIAK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
One of the ordinances is for a bond appropriation of $245,000. The city will also use $161,620 available from a New Jersey Department of Transportation grant as additional funding.
The purpose of this particular project is to upgrade certain infrastructures to enhance pedestrian safety, including pavers, signage and potential lighting, according to City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono.
"The improvements are on pedestrian safety issues on a number of crosswalks on Hudson and Main streets," he said.
According to Lo Iacono, the cost approximation for the project ended up being higher than anticipated.
"The estimates were higher than initially thought, so the amount of the bond is higher," Lo Iacono said.
According to the ordinance, the streets that will be effected by these improvements are the Hudson Street intersections at Marion Street, East Broadway, Broadway and Kansas Street, as well as the Main Street intersections at Marion, Atlantic, Demarest, Mercer and Ward streets.
The second bond ordinance is for the sum of $513,000. The project associated with this bond is street resurfacing and repaving.
"[The project] will also be funded, somewhat, by community development and local planning money we put into the budget," Lo Iacono said.
A $274,966 grant from the Community Development Block Grant Program is also set to be used for funding the road improvements.
"With the appropriated amount, the city plans to resurface various roads, including: Euclid Avenue from (Prospect [Avenue] to Terrace Place), Ricardo Place (from East Railroad Avenue to Park Street), Lawrence Street (from Union Street to Park Street) and Stanley Place (from Second Street to the end)," according to the resolution.
All upgrades are in accordance to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Consideration for final passage of both ordinances will take place on June 10.
If all is approved, the work on both the projects will commence sometime mid-summer, Lo Iacono said.
Email: vazquez@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6708