Mahwah August 8, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Projects will impact traffic on township’s roads by Frank J. McMahon Road improvement projects in Mahwah will impact local traffic in several areas of the township this month and for several months next year. Township Engineer Michael Kelly recently informed the Mahwah Council that the repaving of Ridge Road from the West Ramapo Avenue intersection up to Lydia Lane was expected to start last week and should be completed before the schools located on that road reopen in September. That project, he said, will result in limited access for vehicles on that road during the repaving project. The township was informed in May that it had received a local aid grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the resurfacing of that part of Ridge Road. That road, which extends from Darlington Avenue to West Ramapo Avenue provides vehicular access to the township’s public library, and to several schools located on or off that roadway. Those schools include Lenape Meadows Elementary School, which serves kindergarten through grade three; Ramapo Ridge Middle School, which serves grades six through eight; Joyce Kilmer Elementary School, which houses grades four and five; and Mahwah High School. Part of the cost of the project will be paid for under the township’s recently adopted capital improvement ordinance, which includes money for the improvement of various roads in the township, most of which will be paid by negotiable bonds that will be issued by the township. In addition to Ridge Road, those roads include Armour Road from Airmount Road to Kilmer Road and Miller Road to Mahwah Road, Bellgrove Drive from Franklin Turnpike to Rutherford Road, the entire length of Lawrence and Moffat roads, Stag Hill Road from the Route 287 overpass to Ramapo Brae Lane, Mahwah Road from Franklin Turnpike to Malcolm Road, Doremus Road from East Crescent Avenue to the end of both cul-de-sacs, Alcott Road from Miller Road to Mahwah Road, the entire lengths of Babcock Road and Davidson Court, Olney Road from Snow Drive to the bollards near Stephens Lane, the entire length of Stonewall Court, Macarthur Boulevard from Route 17 to Ridge Road for crack sealing and road repair only, and miscellaneous sidewalk and curb replacements on Franklin Turnpike. Kelly also advised that the NJDOT plans to replace the complete deck of the Macarthur Boulevard bridge over Route 17 next spring and that project will cause one direction of traffic over that bridge to be closed for the length of the project, which is expected to be six to eight months. The Mahwah Public Library reminds patrons that Ridge Road will be paved during the first two weeks in August. The project includes the installation of new curbs from West Ramapo Road to Lydia Road. Visitors should expect delays and some inconvenience entering and exiting the library parking lot. The library will be closed Aug. 18 through Aug. 25 to have new carpeting installed. While the library is closed, patrons may borrow and return items to any BCCLS Construction to affect public library Although the detour plans for the Macarthur Boulevard bridge project are still being reviewed with the NJDOT, Kelly said it has been made clear to the NJDOT that the township wants the westbound traffic lane from Island Road to remain open to serve traffic heading up the hill of Macarthur Boulevard. The eastbound traffic lane over the bridge, however, will be closed and eastbound traffic coming down the hill of Macarthur Boulevard toward Route 17 North will be detoured to Route 17 South to Spring Street, where motorists can make a U-turn. Kelly advised that the NJDOT’s initial preference was to close the westbound side of the bridge and have northbound traffic on Route 17 travel up to the West Ramapo Avenue exit to make a U-turn to travel back to Macarthur Boulevard. Township officials were concerned that such a plan would not work because the traffic traveling north to West Ramapo Avenue would interfere with the traffic already traveling along West Ramapo Avenue to get to the schools on Ridge Road. Kelly emphasized to the council that all these plans for diverting the traffic around the Macarthur Boulevard bridge are tentative, and that he was just alerting the governing body about the future closing of this bridge for replacement of the bridge deck, similar to the bridge deck replacement that was done on the West Ramapo Avenue bridge between June and September of 2009. (Bergen County Cooperative Library System) library, including those in Ramsey, Franklin Lakes, and Upper Saddle River. In preparation for the library’s upgrade, the staff has been weeding out older items from the collection. These books, movies, and other items are for sale on the library’s first floor. For more information, call (201) 529-READ. The library is located at 100 Ridge Road.