South Park Street Opens To Car Traffic

Work crews completed the paving of South Park Street on Monday and the street is now completely open to traffic, according to Katya Wowk, the township's communications director.

Traffic markings will be put down on Tuesday with the contractor spending the rest of the week cleaning up the site and addressing various outstandinng items such as brick layout repairs, she said.

The project still awaits final inspection and PSE&G still needs to turn on electrical power. In addition, two decorative street lights must be installed, as well as the raised planter concrete caps which are still in the process of being fabricated. These remaining items may require short-term street closings (less than one day).

But, generally speaking, completing of the paving work marks a significant step in the redevelopment process, which is now very close to .

The $1 million redevelopment project, which was first introduced two years ago has seen the creation of wider sidewalks, a center median and handicap accessible ramps in addition to the resurfaced roadway.

Workers officially  in late March after initial estimates suggested the work would be completed in Oct. 2011. Work was then expected to be completed by July 1 before being delayed yet again.

The stalled progress was because of a combination of inclement weather and problems with utilities. In June, PSE&G was forced to  some of its electrical equipment to accommodate the new roadway, which temporarily halted progress on sidewalk reconstruction.

Earlier this month, the northbound side of South Park Street was once again  to motorists after being closed to vehicular traffic in late May.

Nevertheless, the project has many business owners eager to reap in the benefits of the revitalized district.

In an  with Patch in March, Michael Restaino, manager of Leone's Restaurant, located at 19 South Park St., said he planned on adding a breakfast menu and outdoor seating to capitalize on the anticipate increase in customers.

"People will want to sit outside and soon they'll be able to," he said.