A safety cone stood beside the puddle on June 27, 2024. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
UPDATE: Borough Administrator Jim Gant provided an update on the borough’s efforts to address the pesky puddle. See details at the bottom of the story.
We admit, it’s one of life’s annoyances that’s gotten under our skin at redbankgreen: a puddle that appeared soon after a long and expensive roadway reconstruction in downtown Red Bank two years ago.
It’s pool of water at at the northeast corner of Broad and Wallace streets. Yes, it always evaporates, eventually. But it doesn’t stay away long, returning with the next rain or snow, and settling in for a while.
Here in photos are 15 months in the life of one persistent puddle.
April 5, 2023
June 17, 2023.
August 16, 2023
November 22, 2023
December 2, 2023
December 27, 2023
January 23, 2024
May 15, 2024
The puddle, at upper right, and the storm drain it can’t quite get to, June 30, 2024.
July 7, 2024
The puddle sits at the foot of an Americans With Disabilities curb ramp on a sidewalk-widening “bumpout” created as part of the Broad Street reconstruction. In designing the bumpout, engineers relocated an existing storm sewer about 12 feet north, tucking it in against the the normal-width portion of the sidewalk.
Now, patchwork in the asphalt indicates an effort was made after the street repaving to address the problem by steering the water to the new sewer location. But the puddle seems not to have taken the hint.
Does the town government have another solution in the works? Borough Manager Jim Gant did not respond to a redbankgreen inquiry.
Is this puddle on your radar, or is there another one you think needs attention?
UPDATE: Borough administrator Jim Gant provided the following update vie email:
Engineers met on site with the previous contractor on 7/1, who immediately replaced the faulty ADA crosswalk pad with new poured concrete and a new pad. We are exploring the puddle issue further which most likely contributed to the ADA pad failing, the concrete was completely broken up underneath. The Borough is still under a maintenance bond for this area and we will be exercising the provisions of that maintenance bond. The ramp sits higher than the pitch needed to get the water to the storm drain – it is incumbent on the contractor to get the pavement to work in that area so that the water reaches the drain. This issue has persisted for some time, however, since it came on my radar as Manager we have been working to get it rectified. I anticipate a gameplan in the very near future.
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