Officials say much of the work will focus in the Barton Run Development section of town.
Officials with Evesham Township set aside time at this week’s Evesham Township Council meeting to review potential plans and figures for the township’s 2019 roads program.
According to Evesham Department of Public Works Superintendent Tom Kohl, this year’s program will reach about $3 million spent on the township’s roads.
Officials said the $3 million figure is the most the township has ever spent for road improvements in a given year and is about $300,000 more than last year’s budget — a budget that previously held the previous record for the most the township had spent in a given year on road repair.
“One of our primary responsibilities of municipal government is road maintenance,” Kohl said. “It’s keeping our infrastructure maintained. It’s a big town. We have a lot of infrastructure and it’s a lot of work.”
As in past years, this year’s program will also continue what township officials describe as the “neighborhood” approach, in which each year the township focuses on repairing roads in one specific neighborhood as whole, rather than simply repair just a few roads in multiple neighborhoods across town.
Kohl said the approach prevents residents of a neighborhood from questioning as to why certain roads in a neighborhood might be fixed while others are not, and the approach saves money since equipment and materials will be located in one general area for the year.
As for determining what roads to focus on, Kohl said the township looks at multiple factors, such as the condition of a road, the age of the road, the number of people who travel on the road, etc.
Kohl said the township also examines if the Evesham MUA or local gas companies are scheduled to work on a road within the next several years, so the township may avoid working on a road only to have that work undone by another utility in the near future.
With that in mind, Kohl said this year the township would be focusing on roads in the Barton Run Development, which Kohl said are around 40 to 45 years old.
Kohl said roads the township was looking at included Barton Run Boulevard (from Tuckerton Road to Lakeside Drive), Lakeside Drive. Pleasant View Terrace, Fairhill Court, Laura Lane, Kendall Court, Leavering Mill Lane, Kennerly Court, Shady Lane, Shady Court, Foxwood Lane and Foxwood Court.
Should costs and bids come in lower than estimated, Kohl said additional options the township was looking at for improvements included Meeting Lane (from Marlton Pike to Cyder Court) and Troth Road (north and south of Route 70).
Kohl said the township has also applied for about $1.1 million in municipal aid from the state Department of Transpiration, although in past years DOT has, on average, only awarded the township about $250,000.
Depending on the amount the township receives, Kohl said the township would use the grant money to work on Lincoln Drive East (north of Greentree Road) and Lincoln Drive West (north of Greentree Road) for this year and perhaps years into the future with future grants.
In addition to listing roads the township plans to work on this year, Kohl outlined the township’s five-year plan of road work from 2019 through 2023.
According to Kohl, 2020 would see the township start to focus on the Country Farms section of town (Phase One), North Elwood Road (north of Route 70), Braddock Mill Road (from Tomlinson Mill Road to Kettle Run Road) and Dutch Road.
In 2021, the township would complete work on Country Farms (Phase Two), as well as work on Hopewell Road (Phase One, from Kettle Run Road to the township line in the south).
For 2022, the township would work on the Willow Ridge section of town (Phase One, north of Marlton Parkway) and Hopewell Road (Phase Two).
Finally, in the furthest out projected year of 2023, Kohl said the township would work on Willow Ridge (Phase Two), Hopewell Road (Phase three, only if required), Pine Grove, Valley Forge Drive and Yorktown Drive.
Similar to the roads planned for Barton Run Development in 2019, Kohl said all roads planned for work through 2023 are also around 40 to 45 years old.
