Midland Park May 15, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Midland Park finally succeeded in being awarded a grant to reconstruct Spruce Street/Highwood Avenue. The borough was recently notified that it will receive $150,000 in discretionary aid from the NJ Department of Transportation to begin the long-awaited project. Three previous efforts to get state funds to do the work proved unsuccessful. The entire job was estimated to cost $405,000, according to Borough Clerk/Administrator Addie Hanna, who was elated at the news rather than disappointed at not receiving the full amount. “We anticipate once they give us money to start a project, they will give us funds in future years to finish it,” said Town gets grant for Spruce/Highwood reconstruction Hanna. Other street reconstruction jobs in town through the years, including Bank Street, Greenwood Avenue and Paterson Avenue, were done in phases as well, with funds accrued over two or three grant years. Plans call for installing drainage and curbing and resurfacing. The roadway, which varies in width, will be paved at a uniform width of 29 ft. New curbs will delineate the edge of the pavement for added safety and to control drainage flow and thus avoid flooding of roadway and private property. Spruce Street residents have been complaining about flooding for years. The work will also include improving the alignment of Spruce Street at the intersection with Pine Street, chan- The Midland Park Volunteer Fire Department will hold its annual service for deceased firemen on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the firehouse on Witte Drive. For the first time, the traditional service will be held at Fire department sets memorial service the outdoor memorial dedicated last year which features a segment of a beam from the World Trade Center salvaged after the 9/11 disaster. The community is encouraged to attend. neling traffic by the use of painted edge lines. The present configuration creates sight distance problems and an almost-stop condition on a through street. No new sidewalks are proposed because of the limited width of the street and the additional cost. The existing sidewalks on both sides of Spruce between Pine and Prospect streets will remain. The mile-long connector roadway used by motorists as a shortcut between Prospect Street and Glen Avenue is heavily traveled and in poor condition due to lack of drainage. Known as “The Estates”, the housing development was built after World War II with no storm drainage system. The successful application was prepared by Capital Alternatives, the borough’s grant consultants, who have completed applications for past NJDOT grants. Hanna said that one of the grant writers previously worked for the DOT funding department and has an edge in tailoring the application to the required criteria.