Metuchen Approves Kahn’s Crossing Bridge, Library Repairs

METUCHEN, NJ - The Metuchen Borough Council voted on several improvements slated for the municipality during a Monday night meeting, including repairs to Kahn’s Crossing Bridge and the elevator at Metuchen Library.

In a unanimous vote, the award for replacing Kahn’s Crossing Bridge went to Rahway-based bidder Berto Construction, Inc., according to meeting documents. A maximum award for the replacement is $383,975, with funds stemming from a FY2022 capital bond ordinance, as well as state Department of Transportation funding. Read more: Metuchen Receives Grant To Repair Kahn's Crossing Bridge

Kahn’s Crossing Bridge connects the Greenway trail gap to Graham Avenue, a historically significant neighborhood that attracts many pedestrians.

While the bridge has been down since 2018 after engineers found rusting and deterioration during an inspection, Mayor Jonathan M. Busch noted the repairs have been too expensive until this point to complete.

“The reason it hasn’t happened sooner is because it's so much more expensive than you might imagine,” Busch said, adding that the borough applied for several grants before it was approved for more than $300,000 in Department of Transportation funding. “A substantial percentage of that project is being covered by [the] state grant.”

Renovations for the Metuchen Library’s elevator renovation project were also discussed during the Monday night meeting, with surplus funding from municipal building ADA-compliance improvements and senior center renovations to be used for the library project.

“This amount is surplus and is not needed for the original purpose,” reads the agenda, pointing to the 23,608.58 excess amount, “and … funds are needed for the Borough of Metuchen’s Library elevator renovations.”

A purchase order from Schindler Elevator Corporation was approved during the meeting, though the order amount was not immediately clear.

“For years, we’ve been hearing about the problems with the library elevator,” Busch said. “Some people may think, ‘alright, it’s just an elevator.’ It’s actually an incredibly expensive proposition … it’s a highly skilled, very involved operation that’s very costly.”

Pointing to accessibility issues given the needed repairs, Busch noted that the borough was finally able to find a grant to cover the elevator repairs through the federal community block grant.

“If the library elevator’s not functioning properly, people aren’t as able to access the different floors. I’ve heard from some people that, if you go to the library, they can't even access one of the floors," the mayor said.

In a statement posted to social media, Busch added that construction on both projects will begin at some point in the first half of 2023.

You can read the entire agenda for Monday’s meeting here.