Spotswood gets $230K grant for Madie project
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD — A $230,000 grant will defray the costs of repaving Madie Avenue, one of the roads officials have sought to improve.

Mayor Barry Zagnit announced that the borough was selected to receive funding from the state Department of Transportation’s 2007 municipal aid program.

Madie Avenue, which runs parallel to Old Stage Road from Ellenel Boulevard to Burlington Avenue, is a residential road that has been in bad shape for awhile.

Zagnit said the road’s condition between Adirondack and Burlington avenues is “atrocious,” noting that the road still has patches from the late 1950s.

“It was ranked high on our priority list,” he said.

Though the grant is very helpful, Zagnit said it will not be enough to complete the work and the borough will have to use some of its own funds.

The borough may also replace curbs and sidewalks along the road where needed. The borough will inspect the area to determine which sections of sidewalk and curbing need to be addressed.

However, any sidewalk or curbing work will depend on how much the repaving ultimately costs, Zagnit said.

Council President Curtis Stollen said Madie Avenue is sorely in need of the repairs, as it is checkered in spots and broken in others. The road has been patched at its center, he noted.

Stollen said the borough’s road department has a list of roads that need work, and the borough tries to “chew away” at the list as funds become available.

Among the key factors in determining which roads need to be done and when are the amount of traffic they endure.

“You want to pick roads that get more traffic and are in worse condition,” Stollen said, adding that those are things the DOT looks for when determining grant awards.

He said the borough submits a DOT grant application annually.

Work on Madie Avenue is likely to take place some time in mid-2007. Stollen said it will take time for the borough to prepare the engineering specs, solicit bids and award the contract.

Zagnit said he is thankful to the 18th District state legislators, including Sen. Barbara Buono, who helped secure the grant for Spotswood, as well as to Gov. Jon Corzine and the DOT.