Forsgate Drive to reopen by first week of Sept.

BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

JAMESBURG –– Area residents looking to travel Forsgate Drive uninterrupted may not have to wait much longer.

According to Ron Sendner, Middlesex County supervising engineer for bridges and culverts, the road may be reopened by the first week in September.

Forsgate Drive, from its intersection at Perrineville Road to Route 522, also known as Buckelew Avenue, has been closed since a storm sewer drain collapsed during the flooding that hit the area in the wake of the July 17 storm.

An 8-foot-deep sinkhole, about 20 feet in diameter, formed where the collapsed storm pipe and a brick arch meet underneath the road.

All repairs to that section of the road must be completed before Forsgate Drive can be reopened, Sendner said. Those repairs, being completed by Sparwick Contracting Inc., of Lafayette, include backfilling, paving and curbing, Sendner said.

The arch must also be pumped full of concrete, and all the electronic devices associated with the traffic signal at that intersection must be replaced and installed.

The collapsed pipe is being replaced by a 60-inch reinforced concrete pipeline, and the water company has asked the county to replace portions of the water line that have been exposed.

“Everything seems to be going pretty well, but there is still quite a bit of work to be done,” Sendner said.

He said the county has placed a $600,000 ceiling on the contract with Sparwick.

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has pledged to reimburse the county for $300,000 from its transportation trust fund.

The balance, Sendner said, will be paid with county funds.

County Engineer John J. Reiser Jr. immediately declared a state of emergency for the area when the flooding hit. This, Sendner said, enabled officials to award the contract for the repairs immediately.

“It was closed on Monday and we had a contractor on the job by Friday,” Sendner said. “It would have been impossible to get that accomplished any other way.”

Jamesburg Mayor Anthony LaMantia said the road closings had hurt local businesses, but most of the shops’ customers have since returned.

He said travelers can drive into the business district to get to all the shops, but cannot drive through. They must turn around to exit the district.

LaMantia said the construction workers have been working hard, and he hopes the road can be reopened earlier than expected.

“The sooner the better,” LaMantia said, adding that traffic in the area has been slowly improving as commuters have become more accustomed to the changes. “It’s been a little hectic in some of the other intersections, but we’re surviving.”