For Secaucus public officials, good news comes in bunches, as the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission (HMDC) stepped in recently to help out with ongoing repairs in the area of the Meadowlands Parkway. Last month, the Town Council awarded a bid for the rebuilding of Meadowlands Parkway to the Paterson-based Tilcon corporation for just under $900,000 – far less than the $2 million figure projected as possible for the project. The Tilcon bid did not cover the cost of repairing the bridge near Harmon Cove Towers that goes over the railroad tracks. Secaucus has estimated the cost of the bridge repair at $525,000. The bridge, located near the town’s outlet stores, has numerous problems to its concrete deck, deck joints, drainage, and wooden walkway and railing. Much of the bridge’s damage had come as a result of years of road salt being applied to keep it from freezing in winter. For Secaucus, the repair of the bridge was considered vital to the reconstruction of Meadowlands Parkway. Engineers noted that the structure’s concrete abutments and piers are crumbling and peeling, with additional moderate deterioration to the bridge’s steel components. Secaucus officials, concerned about the deteriorating condition of the four-lane Meadowlands Parkway Bridge, approached the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission last year seeking to be included in an infrastructure improvement grant. Secaucus was seeking $260,000, which would cover about half the cost of repairing the bridge. Mayor Elwell said the town used the same engineering firm for the study of the bridge that originally designed and constructed the bridge for Hartz Mountain Industries. “First and foremost, we have to replace the wooden walkway,” Elwell said. “It has rotted out and become dangerous.” Although the town did not get the full amount of the request, the HMDC, a state agency, did award $215,800 toward the project earlier this month. Secaucus was one of 14 communities who qualified for grants under the program. “The nearly $1 million in matching funds we distributed will support more than $4.6 million in district infrastructure improvements,” HMDC Executive Director Alan Steinberg said, noting that these improvement will benefit the region as a whole. “The grant program is being implemented to enhance our municipal outreach and to encourage partnerships to support improvement projects that have a regional or district-wide impact.” The infrastructure grant program was instituted to address a broad range of projects affecting the quality of air, water and land within the Hackensack Meadowlands District – an area that includes parts of 14 municipalities in Hudson and Bergen counties. Steinberg said these projects range from street repairs to intersection improvements, and includes the installation of pumping stations, tide gates and other major storm water retention and drainage projects. Included in the overall grant application to various districts was money for bank stabilization along the Hackensack River, as well as improvements for storing of chemicals such as road salt. Inherited the problem Meadowlands Parkway and the bridge became the possession of the town of Secaucus after years of legal bickering with Hartz Mountain Industries, which originally built both the roadway and the bridge. The town settled its lawsuit with Hartz in the summer of 1998. Under an obscure provision of state law, Hartz argued successfully that the responsibility for private roads that take on a public use could be shifted to a municipality after 20 years. Unfortunately, the roads that traverse the Harmon Cove and the outlet sections of town were built to a different standard than public roads would have been, resulting in significant deterioration under the high volume of traffic over them. Tests on the roads, particularly Meadowlands Parkway, showed problems with the sub-base materials. This has caused the highway to crack and sink holes to form. In July 1998, a superior court judge ruled that Secaucus would be responsible for maintaining those roads. An appealed failed, leaving town officials to face the momentous task of first bringing up Meadowlands Parkway to public standards. Elwell said that a lot of hard work by the Flood Committee helped make the repair to the bridge and the roadway a reality, and that credit should also go to Mike Gonnelli, who is the superintendent for the town’s Department of Public Works as well as a Commissioner on the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission and a member of the flood committee. “No person can accomplish everything,” Elwell said. “But the flood committee has developed a very good relationship with the HMDC thanks to Mike.”
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
