Hoover Street bridge reopens for vehicles and pedestrians

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The bridge on Hoover Avenue reopened Thursday, April 27 after being closed since May 3, 2016. A lack of state funds shut down construction between July 8, 2016, and Oct. 31, 2016.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. cut the ceremonial ribbon for the reopening. In attendance were Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia, Councilmen Nicholas Joanow and Carlos Pomares. Venezia and Pomares used the event to call attention to other traffic concerns with county engineer Sanjeev Varghese.

Some people spoke publicly.
The builder, Nino Colonnelli, said the bridge was an interesting project because it utilized the original stone for the facade of the new structure.

“Other than that, we had a shutdown,” he said. “Otherwise, it would have opened sooner.”

Joanow said the new bridge would provide a major relief to senior citizens.
The absence of the bridge inconvenienced some Kinder Towers senior residents who would normally use it to cross the Third River to North Center stores along Broad Street. Without the bridge, pedestrians had to walk through Brookside Park, a route that required climbing steps. Or pedestrians had to trek a distance to Bay Avenue and Broad Street. Vehicular traffic, to arrive at Kinder Towers, had to serpentine through a neighborhood off Bay Avenue.

“Hopefully, we’ll be doing a lot more work,” DiVincenzo said. “There’s more money coming down.”

The additional funds are from a statewide 24-cent gasoline tax increase.
On Saturday, April 29, everyone using the bridge appreciated it.
One was Kjell Eriksen, a senior living on Broughton Avenue. He was in his wheelchair, headed over the bridge for McDonald’s.

“They did a beautiful job on this bridge,” he said. “I’ve been in building all my life. Look at the concrete and the expansion joints. It’s good work. The funny thing about the job, there wasn’t room for many people. They had a big backhoe on this side. It must have been difficult to drive it around to the other side so they had two of the machines, one on the other side.”

But Eriksen did not have kind words for another Third River bridge, the one at Bay Avenue.

“The bridge on Bay Avenue stinks,” he said. “The stones that block the caps are too short. They’re flush to the surface. The water goes under there and freezes and busts it up. But if I were a teacher and this bridge was my student, I’d give it an A-plus.”

Kinder Towers resident Michael Pica, with his dog, Bentley, stopped to chat with Eriksen. Pica was happy the Hoover Avenue bridge was back.

“We had to go to the middle of the park,” he said. “I felt sorry for the seniors. It was hard for them to do it.

Samantha Weiss was also using the bridge.
“It was a huge inconvenience,” she said. “I take the shuttle to the train station. I’m just appreciating the bridge now that I have a shorter walk.”
Pam Borbotti was another.

“I work in the cleaners on Saturday,” she said. “It was a pain-in-the-neck going through the park, especially when the weather was bad. You don’t appreciate something until it’s not there anymore.”

Boswell Engineering, of South Hackensack, received $239,980 for its design of the new Hoover Avenue bridge, and for onsite inspections while construction was under way. Colonnelli Brothers, of Hackensack, was awarded $744,006 to replace the two-lane bridge, originally built in 1908. Varghese said there are 250 bridges in Essex County.

After the ceremony, Pomares spoke to Varghese about the township possibly receiving county permission to use its right of way along JFK Parkway North. Pomares said he would like to use the land to connect two Morris Canal Greenway paths on township property. Pomares is running unopposed for the District 5, Essex County freeholder seat.

Venezia spoke to Varghese about correcting an illegal and dangerous traffic pattern commonly employed by motorists who leave the Parkway and cross over Bloomfield Avenue.

It is expected that the Berkeley Avenue bridge, closed January 2016, will reopen shortly.

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