The reconstruction of Brick Yard Road received a boast this week when Cranbury Township officials were awarded a $1 million grant for the project from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT).
During a press conference on July 24, township officials along with Assemblyman Daniel Benson (D-Mercer) gathered to announce the news of the Local Freight Impact Fund grant at a local business, Rahway Steel and Drum, which is located on Brick Yard Road.
“I think we were all a little bit surprised only because we had applied for this grant previously and had not received funding. What this means to town is that we can do the whole project without dipping into town funds, so there won’t not be any bonding indebted to the town to get this done,” Committeeman Glenn Johnson said. “This also to some degree displaces some of the money that we received from the developer of the Amazon and Wayfair site. It frees up some of that money to maybe use on other roads outside of this one.”
He said that Brick Yard Road will go through a full reconstruction.
“The was never built properly and never given a proper base. That is part of the reason as to why we have so many pot holes and cracks,” Johnson said. “I have been told that sometimes during the year when people drive down you can feel the road give a little bit. The whole purpose of the project is to start from scratch take the whole thing up and put in the proper base.”
According to township officials, it was a two-year process to get the $1 million grant.
Township engineer Tom Decker explained that they are in the very early stages of design for the reconstruction.
“We plan to do a recycling of the pavement that is being removed. It gets reused and reprocessed and put back down,” he said. “We will be establishing a crown back in the road to get drainage of the road. We will also be putting about another six inches of pavement that will really help with the structural integrity of the road.”
According to Decker, all of the guide rails are going to be replaced and the intersection of Hightstown-Cranbury Station Road will be looked at as well to improve the maneuverability for the trucks at the intersection.
Officials said the reconstruction of Brick Yard Road will go from the Hightstown-Cranbury Station Road intersection out to where Brick Yard Road joins South Main Street.
“For right now it is difficult to say when we will begin construction because there is a process with DOT funding. The road is surveyed and some preliminary engineering done with the new grant. There is a lot of leg work still left to be done so it is difficult to say when we will get started,” Decker said.
Earlier this year the township was awarded a previous grant from the DOT in the total of $570,000 to reconstruct part of Brick Yard Road.
The township will also add the grants to the $750,000 in agreements with the developer, Veridan.
Veridan was the firm that also constructed the Amazon and Wayfair facilities in Cranbury.
The grant and the agreements will cover the estimated cost of the Brickyard Road reconstruction, according to township officials.
Michael Foglia, president of Rahway Steel and Drum, said that the project with Brick Yard Road means the town cares.
“It is really traffic from the south. I figured that coming from the south it is 2.3 miles extra that our trucks are driving,” he said. “It comes out to almost 800 miles in fuel and people do not realize one gallon of diesel creates 22 pounds of CO2. Multiply that with Wayfair and Amazon trucks that is a big carbon footprint. Having that road when it is finally done saves fuel and the carbon footprint.”
Foglia said there have been serious issues with the road over the years.
“My director of operation’s car bottomed out on the road and did damage to his car coming off of Route 130. Coming off 130, you have to come off fast and there is always a puddle with a pothole that you do not know if he has just been filled or it is the Grand Canyon,” he explained. “More importantly, this road is a safety issue so it is great that the road is going to be reconstructed.”
Benson is not only Assemblyman of the 14th Legislative District but the chairman of the Assembly’s Transportation Committee. He said the $1 million grant says that the state really recognizes that Cranbury is an important piece to the state’s structure and development.
“We know that particularly in smaller towns they need that additional help to get their projects to the top of the list,” Benson said. “From my vine the next steps for this project is making certain from my end everything stays on track; we get the utility work done in a timely manner and that all the applications to the DOT occurs in a fast manner so we can get construction on the road as soon as possible.”
