Busy year for road, sidewalk repairs wrapping up in next few month

It’s been a busy year on Fanwood’s highways and byways as road and sidewalk improvements and work on the aging gas and water infrastructure has had construction crews in action.

This year’s projects are beginning to wrap up now, according to borough engineer Peter Bondar.

In the meantime, construction is continuing on roadway improvements on Burns Way, which is set to be completed this month. This project was partially funded by a $250,000 grant secured from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT).

After the Burns Way project ends, the contractor will move to the borough section of LaGrande Avenue, starting where the paving was recently completed by Union County and extending to South Avenue. Work on that section is scheduled to start late this month or in early October and last a couple of weeks.

The borough recently awarded a contract for curb and sidewalk improvements, which was partially funded by a $30,000 grant secured from Union County. This project will include replacing deteriorated curb and sidewalk at various locations throughout the borough. Two major areas of improvements are replacing large sections of deteriorated sidewalk on North Avenue near the train station, and on Waldon Road, which is heavily used by students from Brunner School. Work is scheduled to start in October and last a month.

The downtown redevelopment is continuing and the third building fronting on LaGrande Avenue is scheduled to be completed and opened this fall.

Utility upgrades throughout the borough are continuing. Both Elizabethtown Gas and NJ American Water have been actively replacing their old and deteriorated facilities with upgraded facilities.

Looking ahead to next year, the borough will be starting a major project, the reconstruction of Madison Avenue from Martine Avenue to Hunter Avenue. This project is being funded by two grants totaling $420,000 received from the NJDOT and will include a sidewalk on the north side of the roadway to improve access and safety for students attending School One and Park Middle School.