Road Repair Decision For Chester Borough

Chester Borough officials are mulling which municipal roads are in most need of attention.

Borough engineer shared a laundry list of potential repairs last week with the mayor and council. The good news, according to Mayor Bob Davis, is that Chester Borough has been awarded an $80,000 grant for improvements to Old Gladstone Road by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Ferriero added that the grant will not cover the entire project, since the total cost for Old Gladstone Road will be about $100,000.

“I’m pretty happy that we got that,” Ferriero said. “That’s one road we’ll be working on in the future.”

Ferriero began his presentation with a list from 2010 that included the worst-rated roads in the borough. He explained that his recommendations do not necessarily mirror the list since different factors are involved in the decision-making process.

For example, while Fairmount Avenue was high on the list, he said the borough can wait to repair it.

“It is a big project, and we need to think about it in phases,” Ferriero said. “We need to apply for grants.”

He also named Grove Street, Budd Avenue, and Cherry Street as roads that are in need of fixing. Ferriero said Grove Street’s improvements would include sidewalk repair and would cost about $205,000.

“That includes everything, including curbing,” Ferriero said. “Without curbing, it would be $60,000 less.”

Ferriero said Budd Avenue would be more involved.

“That will be a little bit more challenging,” he said. “Some areas are really difficult to do curbing.”

He said Budd Avenue would be a $250,000 job with curbing, and $60,000 less without curbing. But there would be $20,000 of additional drainage costs if curbing is not included in the repairs.

Cherry Street was also on Ferriero’s list.

“We don’t have a ton of work to do on Cherry,” he said, adding that the cost would be between $150,000 and $200,000.

Two other roads on the list, Elm Street and Cherry Tree Lane, in Ferriero’s opinion, can wait to be repaired.

“Elm is a short street, and there is not a lot of traffic,” Ferriero said. “Cherry Tree’s two ends are in Chester Township. It is a small road.”

The Mayor and Council will next look at Ferriero's recommendations.

“We will review the roads again, look at the money side of things, and come up with recommendations,” Davis said.

Tell Us: What roads do you want to see repaired in Chester Borough?