Downtown Princeton Roadwork Begins Soon, Will Continue Through Nov.

By Rebecca Cox       

Princeton will begin a $1.7 million project to upgrade the sewer and water systems on several key downtown streets later this month. The construction to increase the size of water mains and replace 100-year-old sewer lines will continue until the end of November.

The project will proceed in three-week segments starting with Moore Street from Franklin Ave to Park Place. The town is beginning the at the Moore and Franklin intersection so the road fronting the high school will be completed by the time school starts in September.  

The second three-week segment will be construction on Vandeventer from Wiggins Street to Park Place, followed by all of Park Place.  

The most extensive construction will be on Park Place because it will require sewer and water main replacement and involve trenches as deep as 18 feet. The Park Place part of the project could last longer than three weeks and will include work on Branch Alley. Another part of the project will be on Willow Street. The town is investigating whether Willow Street can be done at the same time as other construction because it is not a through street. The priority project is the work on Vandeventer because it carries a lot of traffic. The project may include work overnight from 11 pm to 6 am to open the street to traffic more quickly. 

Princeton Municipal Engineer Robert Kiser told attendees at a meeting on Tuesday that construction will take place at the same time that Princeton University will close one lane of Washington Road in August to upgrade crosswalks from Williams Street to the stadium drive. The university road construction map can be found here. 

Kiser said that 43 properties will be assessed amounts ranging from $65 to $2,400 for repairs to sidewalks and other work. The average assessment, to be paid back over 10 years plus interest of about 3%, is about $400, he said. The town already has marked the sidewalk squares slated for replacement. The pink or red dots will be replaced at the town's cost, and the white dots will be split with the homeowner. Some driveway aprons and concrete curbing will be replaced, and several curb cuts at intersections will be upgraded for better handicap accessibility. The estimated assessment notices will be sent to homeowners in the next few weeks. Kiser cautioned that the amounts are not final, and could change.

The sewer construction on Branch Alley and Willow Street is occurring because the sewer service for some homes -- fronting Branch, Park, Moore and Willow -- is more than 100 years old and runs through several back yards. The town plans to entirely close the pipe, and eventually fill it with a mix of grout and sand that will harden over time to prevent possible cave-ins. A diagram of the pipe can be found on the town tax map 137.

The Branch Alley work also will include new storm sewer drainage connected to a storm culvert that runs down the alley in order to relieve flooding and standing water in the alley. The new blacktop will have a concave surface to direct runoff down the center toward a new drain at the end of Willow Street.