Water Street Delays Create 'Hardships' for Resident
Delays in material delivery push the project's completion back to the end of the month
Photos
For Lori Boxer, who lives off Water Street in Tinton Falls, the over five-month closure of the street has been a physical and emotional hardship.
In an e-mail to Patch, Boxer, who lives on Marrisa Lane, listed the inconveniences caused by the traffic shut down and ever-changing reopening dates: "School buses can't get close enough for pick-up and drop-off; countless extra miles, hundreds of dollars spent for gas; extra time spent having to leave home even earlier in the morning because cars back up on Rutgers waiting to make a left turn onto Wayside Road."
The steet was closed in August after a storm caused erosion along the banks of the Pine Brook and portions of the roadway to collapse.
The borough, too, has faced numerous challenges following the damage, like determing the extent of repair required and what type of funding officials were willing to commit to Water Street. Obtaining the necessary permits to perform the work from the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection took longer than anticipated and even delivery of materials has caused delays, pushing the initial completion date of Thanksgiving all the way to the end of February.
Updates on work to Water Street are now available on the borough's Web site. There, residents can find photos of the physical work on the project that began on Jan. 14 to stabilize the stream embankment and make the roadway safe for vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Borough Engineer David Marks said at the Feb. 7 council meeting that the road should be opened by the end of February.
TF Resident 2
11:29 pm on Monday, February 13, 2012
To state the work started on Jan 14th is a joke. There was a worker there for several hours for one day and then no one has been back for several weeks. Come drive by and see for yourself. There is no work going on.
TF Resident 2
11:36 pm on Monday, February 13, 2012
Should we trust the Feb reoppening date? How many times has this government promised and then missed the dates they stated for Water Street already? Looks a lot like PR damage control and photo spin. Why is there no one working there except for the few hours when the photos where taken? I hope the town remembers this when the next election comes around.
TF Resident 2
5:20 pm on Monday, March 5, 2012
As expected, the town has missed yet another date ... March is now here and the road is still not completed.. In my line of work if I set expectations and then missed repeatedly as the boro has now done, I would loose my job. It must be nice to be able to operate with this lack of accountability or regard for dates and expectations.
Another Tinton Falls Resident
1:34 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Here's hoping that the engineer's estimate that it will take 2-3 weeks after the new materials arrive is on target! That will take us to the end of April. As another resident of 'the forgotten neighborhood' of Marissa Lane and Leonard Place, I can say we are beyond annoyed. We've had troubles receiving deliveries because no one wants to come down Water Street - even from Rutgers. Neighbors have had to drive to Rutgers to pick up their food or packages at times. We've had garbage days skipped if our normal driver wasn't there because the new driver didn't want to go around the "road closed" sign at the end of Rutgers. Buses won't come down to our "normal" stop so parents are driving their kids to school because there is no sense in getting the kids up to catch a bus when you have to drive them to the stop. If you've got to get them in the car anyway, why not let them sleep a little longer and then drive them directly to school. (I hope the transportation department gives them at least part of their money back (like they do for private school students who aren't offered busing) since they have to drive the kids to the stops. Even when Water Street opens, I doubt drivers will change their routes this late in the school year to accommodate these few kids.) The closure is getting old. Let's just hope that this fix is done correctly so the road doesn't have to be closed again in the future for the same problems. That will go a long way toward making the residents happy.
joe mahmah
12:05 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
cry me a river.. its not a problem. its better with less traffic..