Council Approves Road Improvement Plan

Norristown Municipal Council approved a plan for road repairs recommended by the municipality's public works director, Robert Glisson, at Tuesday's meeting. The plan is expected to cost approximately $580,000.

"We're really constrained by finances," said Glisson, "We're going to be paying for this out of the liquid fuels budget. That's money the state allocates to each municipality [based on] their road mileage and population."

The five streets scheduled for repairs and reconstruction include:

• Spruce Street between Markley and Powell streets.
• Forrest Avenue between Main and Jackson streets.
• Buttonwood Street between Main and Jackson streets.
• Janeway Drive between North Hills Drive to Calamia Drive.
• Wood Street between Swede and Powell streets.

Buttonwood Street, Janeway Drive and some parts of Wood Street are scheduled for a simple mill and overlay which includes milling the street down several inches to retain the curb reveal and reapplying asphalt. Spruce Street, Forrest Avenue and parts of Wood Street will be subject to a full depth reclamation that includes going deeper to correct underlying problems in those roads.

There's also a plan for an alternative bid that would include additional streets being treated with a seal coating – an emulsion slurry that's applied to a street in good condition to extend the life of the roadway.No word yet on which roads will be included in that bid.

"We hope to have the bids out in February with probably a March opening," said Glisson. "We'd have the contractor out there working starting in April or May."

The project is expected to take eight to ten weeks to complete.