South Jersey road project from hell restarts, but is far from finished
When I ask Runnemede laundromat manager Crisi Sinauskas about the Clements Bridge Road project, she takes a drag on an Eve cigarette and exhales a wisecrack.
When I ask Runnemede laundromat manager Crisi Sinauskas about the Clements Bridge Road project, she takes a drag on an Eve cigarette and exhales a wisecrack.
"Some days it adds 20 minutes to my commute," Sinauskas, who lives across Clements Bridge Road from her job, laughs. "It can take 20 minutes just to cross the street. I'm not kidding."
For people who live, work, walk, or drive along this 1.5-mile strand of potholed pavement between the Black and White Horse pikes, the $2.7 million improvement project that's disrupted their lives and livelihoods is no joke.
Even more frustrating, some say, is that there are few if any visible improvements despite months of zigzag detours, lane closures, and traffic backups.
"The road's worse than I've ever seen it," says Sinauskas, and I can attest to that.
It's like driving on a washboard or an obstacle course.
Runnemede Mayor Nick Kappatos points out that "a lot of the work that's been [completed] is underground," and says the drainage improvements should help prevent flooding of the sort that forced the temporary closing of a borough church in 2013.
Clements Bridge Road "will be better when it's done," says Harish Desai, who owns the Country Fresh Food Store in a Clements Bridge Road strip mall called Barrington Shops, where three of the eight storefronts are vacant.
"But right now," Desai says, "it's not done."
Also called Camden County Highway 544, Clements Bridge carries 7,500 vehicles a day through the heart of Barrington, across the New Jersey Turnpike, and over a hilly commercial and residential stretch of Runnemede.
In March, crews from various water, sewer, and gas utilities began work as the county's state-funded effort to improve drainage and install curbs and sidewalks along two sections of the roadway got underway. The entire length of Clements Bridge between the two pikes also will be repaved.
On July 8, the Transportation Trust Fund standoff between Gov. Christie's administration and the Statehouse forced the shutdown of the project.
But on July 22, out of concern for the "health and welfare of the community and motoring public," says spokesman Dan Keashen, the county notified the state that it wished to restart the project.
Work resumed Aug. 1; officials in Barrington and Runnemede say they hope for completion sometime in the fall.
"It's hurting us financially," says John O'Malley, owner of John's Auto Service, a landmark on the Barrington stretch of Clements Bridge Road since 1959.
His Citgo station has pumped 70,000 fewer gallons of fuel so far this year compared to the same period in 2015, he says.
"A lot of people don't know whether the road is open, so they don't come this way," O'Malley adds.
Sporadic, unpredictable, and seemingly inexplicable road and lane closures, as well as confusing signage, "are making it difficult to do business," DeLuxe Italian Bakery manager Dominic Racobaldo says.
His family-owned firm stands near the crest of what used to be called Irish Hill, in Runnemede.
That section of Clements Bridge appeared to be (more or less) closed to traffic the day I visited; Racobaldo says customers and some of his 77 employees have been forced to hopscotch through adjoining parking lots to reach DeLuxe.
He adds that deliveries from suppliers have been affected as well.
"The shutdown of this job will inevitably push [completion] back," Keashen says. "At this point we're incurred no additional costs, but some could be inevitable."
If necessary, he adds, the project could be paid for from the county's capital budget.
Restarting the project strikes me as a wise move, given the impact the project already is having on the two communities.
Public safety also is a real concern: The half-dozen apartment complexes on or near Clements Bridge generate a regular flow of pedestrians to and from the Runnemede Plaza.
"It's a mess," says Arthur Carson, 65, a disabled retired forklift operator who rides his scooter two blocks from Barrington Mews to a plaza store called 99 Cents, and back home again.
"The street's a mess, and I have to ride in the street," Carson adds.
"Do you know when it's going to be finished?"
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