LITTLE SILVER – The borough is moving forward with a $3 million project that will bring sidewalks and curbing to Branch Avenue, a primary artery into the municipality’s train station district.
Mayor Robert Neff said the project has been years in the making. Thanks to a lending program through New Jersey’s Infrastructure Bank, which will offer the borough 50 percent principal forgiveness loans – no interest on half the loan – the borough can finally move forward with it.
“We want to get some relief for those residents living on Branch. I’ve seen young mothers with strollers forced to walk in the roadway. I’ve seen kids on their bikes in the streets. We even have a special needs child on Branch who has difficulty using the side of the roadway. It’s been spottily maintained over the years. And now it’ll have a nice makeover that will improve safety,” Neff said.
According to Little Silver administrator Kim Jungfer, the curbing and sidewalk will run from the border of Red Bank to the corner of Little Silver’s NJ Transit railway station along the southbound side of the roadway.
Neff noted that Branch Avenue is a Monmouth County roadway and complications can arise with maintenance to such a route. Even though county roads are maintained by county personnel, it is Monmouth County policy not to fund curbing and sidewalk projects.
“The county won’t stand in your way if you want to do it, but they will not pay for and perform the work. With that said, it’s important to have a strong partnership with the county, which we do. And while this project is going on, simultaneously, the county will be repaving Branch Avenue from the Rumson Road intersection to the train station,” Neff said.
Neff said Branch Avenue is not completely devoid of sidewalks. In some spots there are small sections of sidewalk and curbing that the borough or residents placed over the years.
This project will reconstruct the portions of sidewalk and curbing already in place and bridge the gaps. Neff said part of the difficulty with this project, and much of the cost, is due to sloping in the roadway, which calls for grading in some locations and the placement of retaining walls in other spots.
Jungfer said the construction of ADA-compliant sidewalks ramps is also included in the scope of the work. Placement of those ramps is still out for county approval, she said.
“Our biggest concern, and the real driver of this project, is safe passage for residents. People are walking more and we need to find ways to make our town more walkable,” said Jungfer, who noted that in 2018 the borough completed sidewalk work on Willow Street, another primary roadway that connects the train station to the municipality’s central business district on Prospect Avenue.
The project is currently out to bid and the borough council has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 20 to award a contract.
Councilman Donald Galante said the scope of the work on Branch Avenue is part of a larger vision to improve safety along routes to borough schools, including Point Road Elementary School off Seven Bridges Road, Markham Place School near Rumson Road and Red Bank Regional High School off Harding Road.
“Usually we don’t take on projects like this, but the town is changing. Some residents are getting older. Young families with young children are coming in. With new developments going on around us in Red Bank and Fort Monmouth, we’re seeing more traffic and that argues for us to get our sidewalks in better place. Our town is safe, but it can be safer,” Galante said.
Concerning the work designated for Branch Avenue, Neff said the borough will be mailing letters to residents who will be impacted by the project. Residents will be invited to borough hall to view the plans before work begins.
