BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD — The borough will seek state money to continue adding sidewalks along roads that lead to schools.

At Monday night’s Borough Council meeting, officials said they will apply for nearly $220,000 of state Department of Transportation funding for the sidewalks. The grant is sought through the Safe Streets to Schools program.

Officials want to make roads near schools safer for students and parents. The roads chosen already have some sidewalks, but there are interruptions that force people to walk on lawns or the street. The grant would be used to fill in those gaps.

The project would have to be downsized if the borough does not receive the entire sum it is requesting, said Council President Curtis Stollen.

Among the areas the borough hopes to improve are portions of Vliet Street, Madie Avenue, Easton Avenue, Snowhill Street and Mundy Avenue, Stollen said.

Vliet Street would see an additional 200 feet of sidewalk added from Hudson Avenue to Orchard Street. That would create a consistent walkway for people using that side of the street. Walkers currently have to go around the cars parked on the street, where the Appleby School is located.

There would also be additional sidewalks on both sides of Madie Avenue up to Easton Avenue at the intersection closest to the Schoenly School. That area is also heavily used for school pick-ups and drop-offs, he said.

One side of Easton Avenue between Old Stage Road and Vaughn Avenue would get new sidewalks as well, and that would connect the Schoenly School area with sidewalks all the way to the Memorial School and the back of Spotswood High School, Stollen said.

Councilwoman Marge Drozd said the grant program is “good news” and especially important for a town like Spotswood, which uses minimal school busing.

She said most council members identified streets where the additional sidewalks would be useful.

Another area that would see new sidewalks is the southerly side of Snowhill Street from New Brunswick Avenue to Adirondack Avenue, Stollen said.

Also affected would be one side of Mundy Avenue from the brook to DeVoe Avenue.

It has not yet been determined which sides of Mundy and Easton avenues would get the sidewalks.