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Borough officials took advantage of low oil prices and rolling out a change-order on an early bid and were able to expand an existing program to include more streets, officials said.
“We got our bids out early in the season and it worked out even better than we anticipated,” said Council President Rich Hughes.
The original estimate prepared by Neglia Engineering was for about $1.8 million and the bid awarded to 4-Clean Up in North Bergen came in at about $1.2 million.
“Because of the low price, we were able to do an additional $214,000 in paving,” said Councilman Mario Karcic.
Asphalt, a substance used in road building and maintenance projects, is made from crude oil, which has seen significant price drops in recent months.
“When asphalt prices drop in response to a drop in oil prices, it makes good fiscal sense to simply use the savings to pave more roadways,” Hughes said.
The first round of paving cost about $1.4 million and included all or parts of the following streets:
- Second Street
- Fourth Street
- Allan Drive
- Eagle Street
- Borough Hall Parking Lot
- Park Avenue
- Hendel Avenue
- Bathurst Avenue
- Lorrigan Place
The second round includes:
- Elm Street
- First Street
- Stephens Place
- Newell Place
- Roosevelt Place
- Exton Avenue
“The weather is brutally hot, but mostly dry, so the work is going fast,” Karcic said, adding that Porete Avenue still has to be scheduled for repair work.
Major repairs to Porete Avenue are on hold until Bayonne Water and Jersey City Water fix valves.
Bergen County will pave Schuyler and Jauncey avenues -- both of which are county roads -- as soon as cement work is finished for curbs and handicap ramps and cutouts, officials said. “North Arlington is finishing the cement work now and we will get reimbursed from the county,” Hughes said. “The funding is in place and the work is being done. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out the red tape and paperwork.”
Part of Eagle Street was paid for in part by a New Jersey Department of Transportation grant, but that reimbursement is tied up in the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, Karcic said. Part of Park Avenue was partially paid for by the Passaic Valley Water Commission following a water main replacement, officials said.
North Arlington has put $2.5 million into street repaving the past two years, something that was long overdue Hughes said. “Last year we did 14 long streets and were able to add streets again because the bid came in under,” he said. “When we can lock in the price and do a change-order, significant savings is passed on to residents.”
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