BORDENTOWN CITY, NJ — The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has made official a decision it made in June that would massively impact the downtown business district of Bordentown City.
The City of Bordentown and Senator Troy Singleton announced in the summer that the NJDOT would not be tearing down and replacing the historic Farnsworth Avenue Bridge and instead will be repairing the structure. The decision came down on June 4, after NJDOT Acting Commissioner Francis O'Connor joined Bordentown City officials and staffers from Singleton's office to tour the site. Acting Commissioner O’Connor stated that, based on its safety review, the Farnsworth Avenue Bridge can be repaired from underneath and that demolition and reconstruction were not necessary.
The move was made official last month, after NJDOT Commissioner O'Connor memorialized the decision in a September 18 letter to Bordentown City Mayor Jennifer Sciortino, stating that, at his direction, “the Department will move forward with a project to repair the Farnsworth Avenue Bridge over the railroad tracks rather than the originally planned replacement of the bridge.”
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“By changing the scope of the project, NJDOT will investigate what kind of repairs can be done to improve the structural integrity of the bridge in a manner that minimizes the impact to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as well as rail traffic,” O'Connor wrote in the letter.
Sciortino called the official decision a “win-win-win.”
“I want to thank Commissioner O’Connor and NJDOT once again for being so receptive to our concerns and willing to work with us. I also want to thank Senator Singleton for being there for us every step of the way," Sciortino told TAPinto Bordentown. “What started out as a slow and steady drum beat from the Veterans Memorial Committee grew into a chorus as our community truly came together. Now our businesses can breathe easier, an important piece of our history will live on, and the Veterans Memorial remains standing tall. This is a win-win-win that everyone should be proud of."
The NJDOT in 2019 first proposed tearing down the existing bridge and replacing it, citing functional and construction deficiencies. The project would have been "potentially devastating" to Bordentown City, according to City officials, who noted that the historical and geological implications of replacing the bridge would be “significant” and that the "physical and economic impact on the surrounding community could have been potentially devastating."
In addition, the Veterans Memorial, which memorializes those Veterans from Bordentown City who have fought from the Revolutionary War to the present-day and sits above the bridge, would have been removed and stored during the replacement work.
The decision to repair, rather than replace, the bridge comes after four years of City officials, Senator Singleton and community organizations rallying, meeting NJDOT officials, passing a governing body resolution, signing petitions and erecting lawn signs.
"This is a huge victory for this historical treasure, the Veterans’ Memorial atop the bridge, the businesses along Farnsworth Avenue, and the community overall," said Singleton in June. "This was a true partnership in every sense, and the best example of how government at all levels can work together to find common-sense solutions. It would not have been possible without the dogged advocacy of Mayor Sciortino. She echoed the concerns that were shared by the Downtown Bordentown Association, Bordentown Historical Society and the Veterans Memorial Committee, leading up to this decision. And a huge thank you to Acting Commissioner O’Connor for not just hearing our collective concerns, but listening to them."