MOENCH ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES UPDATED UNIVERSAL ROAD ASSESSMENT, 50+ ROADS TO BE WORKED ON IN 2022, COMMENCING YEAR TWO OF FIVE-YEAR ROAD IMPROVEMENT PLAN

Bridgewater, NJ – This week, Mayor Matthew Moench’s Administration announced an updated Universal Roads Assessment, as well as the 2022 list of roads to be worked on as part of year 2 of the 5-year Township Road Plan. The 2022 list (available for review on OurBWRoads.com) features 51 roads the Town plans to work on this year, as well as 6 alternate roads that are in the queue if circumstances allow.

“I made a promise to the residents of Bridgewater to make sure they have the infrastructure they deserve, and I am thrilled to go into year two of our plan with that goal firmly in our sights,” said Mayor Matthew Moench. “I am proud to continue our aggressive pace to comprehensively address our residential road infrastructure and deliver our residents the results they expect in a timeframe that they can count on.”

As soon as engineering contracts are awarded for the 2022 projects, those roads will begin to appear on the “Current Projects” tracking sheet under the “Road Projects” tab on OurBWroads.

“This year, in addition to the 51 roads we’ll be working on, we’ll also be updating our Universal Roads Assessment with fresh data,” Moench continued. “Bridgewater has been through a lot since the last assessment, and while many great strides have been made in the intervening time, there have also been struggles – the impact of Hurricane Ida to name a major one.”

This year’s Universal Road Assessment, which will objectively evaluate the condition of every foot of every road in Bridgewater owned by the Township, follows the first Universal Road Assessment which took place in August 2020. The data was delivered to the Township in September 2020 – since then 80+ roads have been upgraded.

“We made a commitment to our residents to take on the necessary and massive task of rebuilding and rehabilitating our roads, through a $40 million investment over 5 years,” said Council Vice-President Michael Kirsh. “This year’s $8 million is step two of five, allowing us to address more subpar roads to improve the public’s safety and enjoyment of their own neighborhoods and others within Bridgewater.”

“With this investment, we will further reduce the streets designated “red’ or “orange” in our roads study, indicating those that are currently in the worst condition. We will turn the page to a new era when more of our roads are in “green” or “yellow” condition, indicating that they are in much better shape with considerable useful life ahead,” Kirsh concluded.

Councilman Howard Norgalis offered additional perspective to the announcement. “I’ve seen quite a few road plans in my time on Council, but this one is by far the most focused and comprehensive,” said Norgalis. “That being said, roads don’t deteriorate overnight, nor are they fixed overnight. We are only on year 2 of our 5-year plan, and we are working harder than ever to make sure ALL of our residents have the kind of roads they deserve. If we haven’t been on your street yet, don’t worry, we’ll be on our way soon.”