Road Resurfacing

[Editor]

Hackensack: Letters, March 29
Friday, March 29, 2013
Hackensack Chronicle

City is in need of road repairs

To the Editor:

As another messy winter season comes to an end, citizens of Hackensack find that their excessive tax dollars, often diverted of late to fight legal matters, are not being used to provide basic services, particularly road repair. On Euclid Avenue, near my home, conspiracy theorists who thought the 1969 moon landing was faked by NASA, could make the argument that our street was used as the setting for the fake landing. Other roads in the neighborhood are in similar disrepair.

In fairness, road crews have been around to patch holes in the roads, but these are just temporary fixes that rarely last for any length of time. What's needed is a complete resurfacing. This has been a problem for years.

The city has been through tough economic times, like many others, but one cannot escape the fact that taxes keep going up, and the level of service keeps going down. We would all like to see a reversal of this trend, particularly as the city unveils its grand plans for a new downtown. Who is going to want to invest in a city that can't provide decent roads?

Bruce J. Karp

Hackensack

[Editor]

Hackensack seeks to bond $758K for road and pedestrian improvements
Friday, 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

[Editor]

Hackensack officials approve $513K bond for road upgrades
Thursday June 13, 2013, 10:37 AM
BY  JENNIFER VAZQUEZ
NEWS EDITOR
Hackensack Chronicle


The Hackensack Mayor and Council unanimously adopted a bond ordinance of $513,000, on June 10, after a public hearing. The project associated with the bond amount is street resurfacing and repaving. A public hearing for a second bond ordinance for pedestrian safety, totaling $245,000, was moved to June 26. Euclid Avenue from Prospect Avenue to Terrace Place is an area that will be resurfaced.
BERNADETTE MARCINIAK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

HACKENSACK - The city council unanimously adopted a bond ordinance for the sum of $513,000 after a public hearing on June 10 to go toward street resurfacing and repaving.

"[The project] will also be funded, somewhat, by community development and local planning money we put into the budget," City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono said in a previous interview.

The council also plans to use a $274,966 grant from the Community Development Block Grant Program for funding the road improvements.

With the appropriated amount, the city plans to resurface several 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.

The project will commence sometime mid-summer, Lo Iacono said.

A public hearing for a second bond appropriation totaling $245,000 was moved to June 26.

The purpose of this project is to enhance pedestrian safety by upgrading infrastructures throughout the city. The city will also use $161,620 available from a New Jersey Department of Transportation grant as additional funding.

Email: vazquez@northjersey.com

[Editor]

Crews are working on Euclid Avenue now.  Curbs are being replaced where there old slate ones are damaged or missing.  They are doing a good job with concrete but I prefer the slate which I'm sure is much more expensive.  New catch basins are being installed which are larger than the old ones.  New ADA ramps are being installed at the intersections.

[just watching]

Belgian block curbing costs a bit more than concrete, but it lasts three times longer, I'm told. The reason is that real stone is not affected by the Calcium Chloride in road salt spread out in every winter storm.  So in the long run, it is the most economical.  Hackensack would be smart to consider moving in this direction.

I don't think there is a supplier for the slate curbs.  Too bad.  They also last a very long time.

[Editor]

I love the smell of asphalt in the morning. Smells like.... progress.

Time for a new skateboard.

[just watching]

Smells like....politics. 

Of course, Euclid Ave was long overdue to be paved.

And the funny thing is that there was a big surge in road resurfacing right after the Zisa's took over in 1989.  I guess this is just part of the change, and then when the roads get old and worn, it's time to change the politicians again.

[Editor]

See articles above. The resurfacing bond was passed under the prior administration.

[regina]

Enjoy it while you can. Our street got paved a year ago and United Water promptly dug it up.

[just watching]

Yes, the road resurfacing was passed in June under the old administration, the lame-duck administration. 

Let's call it what it is ---- Road resurfacing was a big issue in the campaign in April and May, and the old council chose to act on it before the new council took office to deny the new council the pleasure of being able to tell the voters that THEY fixed Euclid Ave.

[Editor]

So, if the new administration paved Euclid, it's politics.  If the old administration paved Euclid, it's politics.  Got it.

I'm so naïve.  All this time I thought government was just doing what it is supposed to do. 

(Streets are paved all the time).

[just watching]

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Euclid squeaked.

[Homer Jones]

Now you will hear all the complaints that Euclid Ave is a speedway and that the administration has to do something to slow down the traffic before somebody gets killed.

[irons35]

or maybe after 33 years of use the road looked and drove like a minefield and it was time to be redone. I drive these roads. it was one of the worst in the city.

[Editor]

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads

Financing road building was a Roman government responsibility. Maintenance, however, was generally left to the province. The officials tasked with fund-raising were the curatores viarum, similar to a supervisor who manages and administers. They had a number of methods available to them. Private citizens with an interest in the road could be asked to contribute to its repair. High officials might distribute largesse to be used for roads. Censors, who were in charge of public morals and public works, were expected to fund repairs suâ pecuniâ (with their own money). Beyond those means, taxes were required.

...all roads lead to Rome.