Borough Sidewalk Improvements Set To Begin

By Steve Bigham

Later this month, a construction team is scheduled to pull up a section of old, worn out sidewalk along Main Street and replace it with a concrete-like material called Bomanite. Jay Maher, a member of the Borough Board of Burgesses, hopes it is the beginning of something really big.

Mr Maher, of Glover Avenue, has headed the borough’s efforts to sidewalk all of downtown Newtown, making it more pedestrian-friendly. The plans call for the addition of 3,500 feet of sidewalk within an inner loop of the borough. The new, five-foot wide concrete sidewalks would be built along the southern part of the eastern side of Main Street, along the northern side of Glover Avenue, the western side of Queen Street, and then up Church Hill Road on the northern side. These added sidewalks would connect with existing sidewalks on the upper part of Main Street. However, the plans – now 3 to 4 years in the making – remain on hold due to a lack of funding.

This month’s project addresses a problem area in front of 48 Main Street (across from Edmond Town Hall) and will be paid for through the borough’s capital reserve fund. However, the job only touches the tip of the iceberg. The total projected is estimated to cost about $200,000, 75 percent of which the town has been asked to pay for. The Legislative Council already committed to the project when it added it to its five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and agreed to fund the $10,500 engineering study. Those sketches are complete. Now, Mr Maher and the borough sidewalk committee must press for the remaining needed funds. If approved, the town would pay for the sidewalks through Local Capital Improvement Plan (LOCIP) money given by the state. But, like so many other major capital projects on the board these days, the sidewalks must play the waiting game. As the future of Fairfield Hills remains up in the air, so does everything else.

In addition, council members have indicated they would like to see some financial support from local businesses, and a few years back, that support appeared to be there. Developer Joe Kasper of the Newtown Shopping Center (where Big Y is located) planned to upgrade the sidewalks along Queen Street and at the corner of Queen Street and Church Hill Road. That area, currently the site of the old Texaco gas station, was supposed to be transformed into a Pleasance-like setting. But that work has never been done, mainly due to his inability to acquire the Texaco property. Mr Kasper and the lot’s owner, George Wiehl, were unable to strike a deal.

Mr Kasper is now seeking a special exception from borough zoning to modify his original scope, but his sidewalk proposal is no longer a reality.

  Mr Maher said it has been difficult to raise funds from other businesses because sidewalks are viewed as a responsibility of the local government.