From the Western Boundary of the Pennsauken Creek where the township borders Maple Shade to the Lenola Road Intersection will receive aesthetic and infrastructure upgrades.
Approximately a quarter mile of the Lenola Town Center Camden Avenue corridor is getting a facelift. The township presented its plans for improvements at a public information meeting held in the Lenola Firehouse last Wednesday night.
From the western boundary of the Pennsauken Creek where the township borders Maple Shade to the Lenola Road intersection will receive aesthetic and infrastructure upgrades. These improvements will be financed through a $971,500 Federal Transportation Alternative Program Grant.
Community planning landscape architect Scott Taylor of Taylor Design Group said the township engineer completed a topographic survey of the area and determined somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of the sidewalks in the area are in need of replacement. He said the area has inadequate lighting for both motorists and pedestrians.
Taylor said phase one of the plan is to construct new sidewalks for almost the entire length of the project. To facilitate some of the streetscape and traffic-calming elements they hope to implement, the sidewalks will be moved to be three to four feet outside of the curb. Taylor said the increased space will allow the township more room to add street plantings as well as encourage motorists to drive more slowly by making the lanes appear narrower.
New, decorative crosswalks will start at the intersection of Lenola and Camden and continue throughout the project area. In working with the Lenola Ad Hoc Committee, Taylor Design and the committee decided on a neutral palette of black metal benches, trash receptacles and bike racks.
A continuous five-foot wide bike lane will span the length of the project on both sides. A dedicated left-turn lane will be added headed eastbound on Camden Avenue onto New Albany Road.
Taylor said the county has agreed that after the township completes its streetscape improvements, it’s going to follow up and mill the roadway surface in this area. He said the county taking on that responsibility will help the township to pay for some additional curb and sidewalk improvements.
The township is looking into warm LED lighting that will offer an incandescent glow. Taylor said any additional lighting will not shed light sideways and will be evenly distributed throughout the sidewalk.
Resident Gina Zegel voiced her concerns about how any new plantings will be maintained. She said there is currently a township ordinance that states the township is not responsible for plantings such as shrubs and flower beds. She said the beds along Main Street are not the township’s responsibility, as such, she spent her own money to clean those areas up last spring.
Taylor said it is not the intention to create lush landscapes that will require township maintenance. He said the majority of the greenery they’ll be incorporating will be trees and lawn spaces.
Twenty-year Moorestown resident Thomas Smith said he was “ecstatic” to hear about the updates. He said he’s seen a decline in the area and is excited by the prospect of revitalizing it.
“We all know our section of town has been neglected for far too long,” Smith said.
Smith questioned how the township plans to control traffic that will be diverted into the neighborhoods once this work starts.
Taylor said the township will have to create a traffic maintenance and management plan to be approved by the county that addresses how it will minimize the impact to residents and businesses. He said, unfortunately, the work will inevitability pose its problems for residents.
“Hopefully a short period of inconvenience for everybody will have long-term benefits for the community,” Taylor said.
Resident John Logue questioned if there is an intent to apply for more funds to have a phase two of the project. He said while the project is a great start, it’s not enough to have the work stop once you cross the Lenola line.
Taylor said after the first phase is constructed, he anticipates the township will reconvene the ad hoc committee to apply for more funding as it becomes available.
“Everyone agreed we can’t stop here,” Taylor said. “This has to continue under future grant rounds and/or through capital improvements. We need to finish this plan and see it to fruition.”
Taylor said the township has a deadline of June 2019 to have all of its DOT and federal authorizations in place. From there, the plan is to go out to bid and be under construction sometime between the summer and fall of 2019.
