TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Bergen County Commissioners on May 18 approved a nearly $2 million Bergen County contract to improve traffic circulation at the Pascack Road–Washington Avenue intersection.
Preliminary work to upgrade culverts and drainage at the intersection might start by mid or late summer, Pascack Press has learned.
Nearly three years after the township initiated a shared-services agreement with Bergen County to upgrade the notorious bottleneck, the work looks likely to commence within weeks, Bergen County spokesperson Michael Sheinfield told Pascack Press on June 14. He said the county awarded a $1,980,941 contract in mid-May and that that county engineers were originally hoping that work might begin soon.
While the contractor’s timeline provided has estimated a 180-day construction period, or six months between start and completion, county officials anticipate delays, mostly due to supply chain holdups, especially in getting the steel needed for custom-fabricated traffic signals.
Mayor Peter Calamari told Pascack Press on June 15, “Of course we are thrilled that another important step has taken place on this project. The county has put a lot of time and money into this project, and we look forward to working with them as we have in the past to bring the project to completion.”
Sheinfield said engineers were estimating that work could likely go into early or mid 2023 before project completion.
Last October, the county said it would move on the intersection fix after the township secured the last of 16 easements required to expand the intersection’s footprint.
The intersection had been the subject of numerous complaints, meetings, and promises over at least two decades as motorists — including those operating large trucks and buses — have navigated the intersection’s narrow turn lanes, aggravated by steady traffic from a nearby Garden State Parkway exit.
The low bidder was New Prince Concrete Construction Co., Inc., Hackensack. Two other higher bids were received, ranging up to $2,348.012, said the county spokesman.
Sheinfield said local police will be in charge of traffic management at the intersection as work gets underway.
County engineers are now in discussion with the winning contractor over timelines and work scheduling, including initial work on drainage, lanes, directional striping, and traffic signals, Sheinfield said.
Sheinfield said the three vacant houses abutting the intersection will be torn down, and an area for a new bus stop heading towards the Garden State Parkway was on the plans.
Commissioner Germaine M. Ortiz, of Emerson, who has driven through the busy intersection many times over 18 years living in the Pascack Valley, said the project start was a “win-win for everyone” including locals “who have been waiting for it for over 20 years,” she said. Ortiz has served as a commissioner for six years.
“I’m cheering for it and definitely pushing for its completion,” Ortiz told Pascack Press. She said though initial hopes were to complete the project by year-end, due to delays and supply chain backlogs, a spring 2023 completion date seems more likely. Last fall, Calamari also reported that the county planned to pave the length of Pascack Road in 2023. No updates or timeline has yet been revealed.
Moreover, the township is nearing completion of a long-awaited emergency services building to house the volunteer fire department and ambulance corps at 620 Washington Ave., near the busy intersection.
As part of its three-year-old shared services agreement with Bergen County on the intersection fix-up, the township agreed to pay for any new traffic signals required for public safety at the new Emergency Services Building, originally anticipated for completion in January.