Each day, truck traffic batters the surface of LeFante Way, which provides access not only to South Cove Common Mall, but also the Bayonne Golf Club and numerous other warehouses along the northeastern corner of the city.
The roadway is in such disrepair that in certain areas, pieces of old rail poke through patched asphalt, threatening truck and car tires.
Although the Bayonne Golf Club, as part of a 2003 agreement with the city Planning Board, agreed to resurface the roadway, the project may be bigger than expected, requiring the city to rebuild the street.
“That roadway needs to reconstructed,” said Ron D’Argenio, attorney for the Golf Club, recently. “That’s much more than we ever agreed to do.”
Part of the problem of the roadway is the massive truck traffic that uses that road to access Route 440.
Over the last few weeks, the city has been searching for a solution to the problem, even looking at old agreements.
“We would be more than willing to pay our share of an assessment for rebuilding the road.” – Ron D’Argenio
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“That’s just not true,” he said. “We have a 50-foot frontage on the road, and we would be more than willing to pay our share of an assessment for rebuilding the road. But something would have to done about the truck traffic going in and out.”
Each could chip in
In 1990s, the town of Secaucus made a similar arrangement for the reconstruction of a private road that served many of the outlets and warehouses there. Under that agreement, each property owner was charged a percentage of the construction based on how many feet of property they had along the road.
D’Argenio said that the Golf Course agreed to repave part of the road as a sign of good faith to the city, but during the construction of the course, its trucks carting in dirt and other materials did not even use LeFante Way at all, but rather Avenue J.
City estimates range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, and D’Argenio believes the higher figure the most likely.
The road isn’t being neglected. Potholes do get filled, he said.
“But our responsibility is resurfacing the road, and we’ve held off because it is a waste of money,” he said. “We’ve told the city and we’ve come up with a fair share agreement, but our obligation has never been more than a resurfacing. As long as you have trucks coming in and out from what is basically a truck terminal, resurfacing is a waste of money. To reconstruct the road will probably cost several million dollars. Maybe the city has to look to get federal stimulus money. We’re certainly willing to put up our fair share along with all the other entities along LeFante Way. We would be happy to be assessed by the footage to pay for reconstruction.”
City inspectors have ordered the halt of two construction projects on Ingham Avenue and on East Third Street until the details of the projects can be brought before the Bayonne Planning Board.
Steve Gallo, a member of the Planning Board, said that complaints by residents in both areas brought to the city’s attention projects that the city has no record of.
Residents in the area fear that these projects, combined with an increase of activity along the Conrail train lines, could possibly indicate that the site may be used as a trash transfer station.
Gallo said city inspectors want Duraport Marine & Rail Terminal to bring to the Planning Board details behind a concrete ramp and platform being constructed off Ingham Avenue, abutting the rail line.
Gallo said Conrail claims to be making some track improvements. But Gallo said that the city would like to see more details concerning this and the project off East Third Street.
He said a legal team has determined that the two projects must present their plans to the city in order to make clear the extent of the operations and to see if these meet with city regulations.
Gallo said, “We need to look more closely at these projects to see if they need any city permits to do what they are doing. We feel we need to get a land use review, and that both projects may need to appear before the planning and zoning boards. Until they present something to the Planning Board – such as description for review – they will not be allowed to move ahead. As of right now, they are undefined projects and we don’t know what they are. So a stop work order has been issued.” – Al Sullivan