LITTLE SILVER – There is a plan afoot to repair and upgrade some sidewalks in town.
After months of discussion, the borough council is preparing to introduce a $3 million funding ordinance. According to Mayor Robert C. Neff, properly maintained sidewalks are integral to a Little Silver community with neighborhood schools, a downtown business district and the NJ Transit train station.
“Some of our sidewalks are just not in good shape, and some of them are along primary walking routes for our kids,” Neff said. “There are several of them that need attention.”
Portions of prominent borough arteries like Seven Bridges Road and Prospect Avenue are in need of sidewalks, Neff said. A new sidewalk for Prospect Avenue, between Crest Drive and Harding Road, is also part of the proposed plan.
Branch Avenue is a roadway heavily traversed by borough students who walk to Little Silver’s Markham Place School, which serves students in grades five through eight, and commuters.
Point Road School, for pre-K through fourth-grade students, is located along Seven Bridges Road.
Prospect Avenue is a walkable route that leads into the heart of the borough’s downtown where municipal buildings, office buildings, restaurants and a shopping center are situated.
“(Prospect Ave.) is an expensive project because the road has some engineering issues. There’s a slope going down to the edge of the street so it’s not just a matter of pouring concrete. But funding is always the trick for projects like this. It’s the job of the mayor and borough council to come up with the most fiscally sound funding plan possible, and that’s something we’ve been working on for over a year now,” Neff said.
Neff noted the borough was able to use grant funding to complete a sidewalk and curbing project last year on Willow Drive, a roadway that connects foot traffic to both the downtown business district and the train station.
He said the borough currently has two grant applications filed and is waiting to see if Little Silver is eligible for the state’s no-interest bond program.
“We’re talking about introducing an ordinance that would allow for bonding to support the cost of some of these sidewalks, but it doesn’t mean that’s the route we would definitely take,” Neff added.
Unlike Prospect Avenue and Seven Bridges Road, Branch Avenue is a Monmouth County roadway that cuts through Little Silver, continues past the Oceanport Avenue entrance to Fort Monmouth and has proven to be a popular route for those looking to reach Monmouth Park Racetrack and popular beachfront destinations in Long Branch and Monmouth Beach.
Though the paving and annual maintenance of the roadway is typically handled by the county, Neff said the county traditionally does not help fund curbing and sidewalk projects.
“The county’s view is that sidewalks and curbing are the responsibility of the municipality. The county paves and has been great to Little Silver with respect to paving. But it’s a common practice to let the municipality move forward with sidewalks and curbing,” Neff said.
Neff said the borough is close to completing its bond ordinance and that residents can expect to see it introduced “at the next council meeting or two.”
