Garwood Police Chief Talks South Avenue Paving, Thanks Residents for Their Patience

This release was published by Garwood Police Chief Bruce Underhill on the Garwood Police Department website.

Thank you for your patience and working with us during this hectic period.  We knew this was not going to be easy from the onset.  At the PCM (Pre-Construction Meeting) last year there was never any mention of shutting down the roadway entirely. As with past projects, it was expected that one lane would be left open in each direction while the other was being worked on.  The possibility of working at night was discussed, however this is not the Counties normal practice for their projects and we were told that work would be performed during the day.  Delays stagnated the project and Hurricane Sandy terminated it for the year 2012.  Now the project is again in full swing around the County.  Those of you that have traveled recently on Raritan Road in Clark, may have first-hand experience with the traffic and inconvenience which took place during that phase of the project.  Garwood will not be spared this either ,although we are working to make it more palatable.

In early March I contacted the County Engineering Department for a status on the project.  I did this after observing construction taking place on South Avenue in Fanwood & Westfield at night.  What I found was that yes, their project was about to get geared up, but the work being done in Westfield was an unrelated state project being conducted at night along rte. 28.  That State project was noted on the Union County website on their traffic detour page.  This confused many people who in turn thought it was a County project taking place and raised the question as to “why can’t the paving be done at night in Garwood?”  Additionally, the County posted signs in Garwood that indicated a “Total Road Closure”, which of course caused concern for both residents and businesses.  I put out a letter to our businesses on April 10th advising them that businesses would remain open and all efforts would be made to allow uninterrupted access.  I have also been in contact with the County Engineering Department on a regular basis.  We were able to improve the original plan and additional officers for our phase were approved.

The Garwood phase is dynamic and changing daily.  Milling should take 2 days, followed by 2 days of paving and then they will stripe.  Most people are creatures of habit and will migrate to travel paths they know rather than go around the mess or explore alternate routes.  Even so, additional signage has been posted, extra traffic safety officers are present to assist and County traffic assistants are in the area as well to assist.  Officers will assist the School Guards in getting our children through affected areas safely.  I have also made it clear to the County that no oversized trucks will be permitted to detour through Garwood’s side streets as we do not want any downed wires or fender benders. 

Remember to use extra caution when navigating through the town, school travel paths and construction areas.  The safety of the children comes before the convenience of the motorists.  Please contact us if you have any special needs we can assist with.  Again, I thank you for your patience and cooperation during this brief period of construction.

Chief Bruce D. Underhill