Brief: Terrill Road Construction Delayed

Editor's Note: The following article has been amended to include updates made Tuesday evening.

A planned resurfacing project for a roughly one-mile stretch of Terrill Road has been postponed, Union County's Bureau of Traffic Safety and Maintenance announced on its website. The project, which is expected to take about seven days, will force the closure of Terrill Road from Raritan Road to King Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The roadwork project was originally scheduled to start Monday, Nov. 1.

Patch had previously reported that the postponed start date was due to an overlap with other county projects. In an email Monday, county spokesman Sebastian D'Elia wrote, "The Terrill project was postponed due to conflicts in the schedule, not because of elections." Members of the Bureau of Traffic Safety and Maintenance, contacted by telephone, echoed his comments. 

On Tuesday, however, Township Manager Christopher Marion, Mayor Nancy Malool and Deputy Mayor Dominick Bratti said that the project was postponed specifically because of its timing and location. The planned road closure includes Terrill Middle School, where residents of Scotch Plains Districts 17 and 18 cast their ballots. As Bratti pointed-out in an email he sent to Marion on Friday morning – which Marion then forwarded to the county – the closure would delay, prevent or deter residents of those districts from voting. In addition, Bratti argued, it would cause severe traffic delays for Terrill Middle School parents, bus drivers, voters and anyone else trying to reach the school or travel Terrill Road. He added that he had received "several complaints in this regard." 

Shortly before 10 a.m. Friday, Marion forwarded the email to the county's director of public works, Joseph Policay. Policay replied eight minutes later:

"Signs will be removed
In about ten minetes [sic]

The job is posponed
Maybe later in the 
Week"

At 2:15 p.m. Friday, the county's Bureau of Traffic Safety and Maintenance announced on its website that the roadwork project's start date had been changed to "TBD," to be determined. Signs announcing the planned road closure had also been removed from Terrill Road.

In a follow-up telephone interview Tuesday morning, D'Elia said he would speak with members of the county's public works department to determine the exact cause of the delay. Because government offices were closed for election day, however, D'Elia said that he did not expect to receive a response until Wednesday. 

For more information about the Terrill Road resurfacing project, click here. For a map of the planned closure and detour route, click the image at right.