Community Corner

Construction Crews Prepare Martine Avenue for Closure

The road will be closed from Raritan Road to King Street for resurfacing.

Start rethinking your commute, Martine Avenue is undergoing a facelift. A 1.5-mile stretch of one of Scotch Plains and Fanwood's most heavily traveled roads will soon be closed for three days, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Union County contractors will mill and repave Martine Avenue, from Raritan Road to King Street. Regular traffic will be diverted around that section of Martine, according to the Union County construction update website, but emergency vehicles will be allowed through. Parking will also be prohibited during the project's hours of operation. 

The website states that the resurfacing project will begin on or around Aug. 17. But a foreman working to prepare the road this week said that the resurfacing project could begin as early as next week. 

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We'll be done Friday," Peter Skelly said. "They can start right after that." 

Skelly is overseeing repairs to Martine Avenue's sewer grates and storm basins, a common practice for roads that are about to be resurfaced, according to a member of the county's traffic bureau.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Starting Wednesday morning, workers dismantled and removed the metal storm grates that are embedded in the curbs along Martine Avenue. The workers then replaced some of the bricks and mortar that form the sides of the basins and inserted new casings to hold the basins in place.

The basin work today will be completed by 3 p.m., Skelly said, leaving the evening rush hour unaffected. Work on Friday, however, will start at 7 a.m.

Once the resurfacing project starts and Martine Avenue closes, detours will direct traffic to follow a parallel route on Raritan Road and Terrill Road, all the way around to South Avenue in Fanwood. Cooper Road will also be closed to thru traffic. For a map of the detour, click the thumbnail image above.

The project is being funded by stimulus money provided by the federal government. A Union County spokeswoman said in a phone interview that the funds have allowed the county to commission three times the amount of roadwork that it normally undertakes. 

For more information on the Martine Avenue roadwork, visit the Union County road construction update site


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