Public hearing on bond ordinance for 2015 Road Improvement Program and more set for April 14
Evesham Township Council has introduced an ordinance to bond various capital improvements, including $1.5 million for the road improvement program.
Several council meetings dating to Feb. 3 have featured presentations from township officials regarding what roads and what portions of roads to include in the program.
In the bond is money for work to be conducted on the portion of Willow Bend Road from Westcott Avenue to the traffic light at Tomlinson Mill Road, Tomlinson Mill Road to Marlton Parkway, the section of North Elmwood Road between Route 70 and Main Street, and Evans Road from Farmington Drive to Commonwealth Drive.
Township officials have previously said the roads were chosen due to their damaged status and use as “collector roads,” meaning roads outside of developments that collect heavy traffic from multiple areas of town.
Work on the roads will consist mostly of mill and overlay work, which Department of Public Works Superintendent Tom Kohl has in the past described as putting new tops on the roads.
As law requires, also to be redone are any curbs and sidewalks located along the roads, handicap ramps as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and tree removal when trees are causing tripping hazards.
It was the tree removal and high cost associated with the issue that caused council to reconsider paving all of Willow Bend Road, as officials originally suggested.
Council asked for a study of how many trees would need to be removed if work was conducted on the entirety of Willow Bend Road, with a study from a landscape architect and horticulturalist later determining that 93 trees along the road were at risk.
As such, council decided that this year, only the portion of Willow Bend Road from Westcott Avenue to Tomlinson Mill Road would be paved to save money.
In addition, waiting to pave part of the road will give officials more time to speak with residents along the other portion of the road and get their input on the number of trees that would potentially need to be removed when paving eventually takes place.
“There will probably be two parts to that, phase one and phase two,” Kohl said. “We’ll go the other way toward Main Street if things work out for phase two, but this year it’s Westcott to the traffic light. There were some questions with trees. There’s a lot of sidewalk work there.”
According to Kohl, the township has done well in the bidding process in the past, and as such, two additional roads are going out as optional bids — the overlay of Sycamore Avenue and work on Chestnut Avenue.
Kohl said Sycamore Avenue had some base repairs done two years ago, resulting in the current need for only overlay. Chestnut Avenue also requires only base repairs and overlay.
“What’s nice about those two roads is there’s no curves, there’s no drainage,” Kohl said.
A public hearing and potential final adoption of the bond ordinance is scheduled for April 14.
