After many years of meetings and brainstorming sessions, town officials are ready to begin construction work on Baldwin Avenue, the road that connects Blvd. East. near the Lincoln Tunnel with Harbor Blvd. and River Road.
According to Mayor Richard Turner, it took eights agencies working together to give the final “OK” for work to begin next month. Some of those agencies are contributing to the nearly $9 million cost of the project. The rest of the money will come from area developers.
“We approved [the project] eight to 10 years ago,” Turner said. “We knew that we would need a major intersection down there before the [waterfront] park was done.”
The township will take bids for the construction work by the end of September. Then, workers will rebuild the area into a wider, five lane road complete with modern traffic lights, pedestrian walkways, and sidewalks.
Though the road is slated for completion for 2011, officials are hoping that by late 2010, certain walkway areas will be partially completed.
“Our goal is to have the northern half done first with a sidewalk and all so we can make that safe while we do the southern half,” said Turner.
Also, officials have no intentions of closing the road while it is undergoing renovation work.
“Baldwin will be open at all times. There will be some times when it’s closed for certain things, but on a regular basis, we will do one half and then we’ll come back and do the other half,” said Turner.
The township will take bids for the construction work by the end of September.
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“I think it will be very nice for all of us when this is finally built, because it will be very beneficial to the residents and to our guests,” said Township Manager James Marchetti.
Pedestrians
Plans for improving the area in and around Baldwin Avenue have taken into account pedestrians’ needs. The road will include a median that pedestrians can stand on while waiting for traffic between Blvd. East and River Road to pass.
“[Currently] we get complaints from local residents who want to use the road to walk or bicycle in and it’s not safe,” Turner said.
With time, the township will also receive an additional acre of park land near Baldwin Avenue from the developer Hartz Mountain. Also, the township has received federal money to renovate a pier near the Chart House restaurant. “Before we do all of that, we have to have some central access,” said Turner.
Costs
Turner emphasized that no township money was used for the construction and renovation of Baldwin. Part of the reason the township worked diligently with other agencies is that the money for the project came from some of those parties.
The township will use federal money for road projects, funds provided by the Port Authority, federal stimulus funds, and money provided by developers in Weehawken’s waterfront area.
“Our goal was not to spend one taxpayer penny, and we have accomplished it,” said Turner.
Melissa Rappaport may be reached at mrappaport@hudsonreporter.com