The Village undertakes a variety of roadway projects as follows:

• NJDOT Local Aid Grant projects.  Annually the Village applies for grants to improve high volume roadways.  The scope of work is generally milling & paving with selective full depth reconstruction of the paving box where there may be structural deficiencies, ADA improvements at intersections, and drainage improvements.  On these projects the Village may replace curbs if it is necessary to facilitate the overall scope.  These projects are reviewed and approved by NJDOT before being advertised for construction bids.
• MCCPC Paving projects.  This is a cooperative pricing council within which multiple municipalities pool their simpler paving work.  The combined asphalt tonnage quantity resulting from the pooled projects results in a lower bid cost per ton of asphalt, and therefore savings to the residents.  These projects are strictly simple milling & paving.  There is no concrete work or drainage work, no trenching, no selective reconstruction.
• Village Only projects.  These are projects that are too complicated for milling & paving through the pricing cooperative and not eligible for NJDOT Grants.  The scope of work for these projects can vary widely, from a milling & paving that has additional items of work beyond the MCCPC, up to full depth reconstruction projects where the entire roadway is rebuilt from scratch. 
• Note: Roadwork often has an extended timeframe from design to execution and can continue into the next calendar year.

 Village Roadwork (as of 12/09/2025):

• Lenox Avenue (SO Ave. to Walton Ave.) – Concrete work began Monday 11/10 and was completed 11/25. Paving anticipated Spring 2026. Project includes milling & paving, ADA required curb ramp improvements, and speed control improvements (pedestrian median islands and enhanced striping/signage). (Excerpt of Plans)

This project has demobilized for the winter and will remobilize in Spring 2026 for completion of milling, paving, striping and signage.

• Vose Avenue Section 1 (SO Ave. to Raymond Ave.) – Construction start anticipated Spring 2026. Project includes milling & paving, ADA required curb ramp improvements, and speed control improvements (pedestrian bumpouts/chokers & raised intersection). Construction contract awarded. Construction expected to begin Fall 2025. (Excerpt of Plans)
• Church Street & W. 3^rd Street (Church St. to SO Ave. plus W. 3^rd St. between Church St. and S. Ridgewood Rd.) – The construction contract awarded 10/27/2025 with construction expected to start in Spring 2026. (Excerpt of Plans)
• 2025 MCCPC Milling & Paving – Project includes milling & paving of South Harding Dr., Hemlock Ter., North Ridgewood Rd. (Mountain House to Village Boundary), Walnut Ct., South Centre St., Reynolds Pl., Mercer Pl., Milton Pl., South Stanley Rd. and SOPD Parking Lot. Paving completed November 2025, currently closing out contract with Contractor. (Project Plans)
• West Montrose Avenue (N. Ridgewood Rd. to Scotland Rd.) – Project includes milling & paving, ADA required curb ramp improvements, speed control improvements such as intersection narrowing, advisory speed zones, signage & rumble strips, and bike lanes. Paving completed August 2025, currently closing out contract with Contractor & NJDOT.(Excerpt of Plans)
• West End Road (SO Ave. to S. Ridgewood Rd.) – Project includes water main replacement, full depth roadway reconstruction, new curbs, new sidewalks, new drainage system w/ green infrastructure, ADA required curb ramp improvements, and speed control improvements (chicanes). Paving completed June 2025, currently closing out contract with Contractor & NJDOT. (Excerpt of Plans)
• South Ridgewood Road (W. 3^rd St. to Lenox Ave.) – NJDOT grant awarded, design pending. Design will include Wesley Court as an alternate bid.  Per grant, construction award is to occur on or before November 2026.
• Walton Avenue (Maplewood to South Ridgewood) – NJDOT grant awarded, design pending. Per grant, construction award is to occur on or before November 2027.

 Inter-municipal Roadwork:

• None active.
• West Orange paved their section of North Ridgewood Road (aka South Valley Road) in June 2025.  We coordinated with them to complete the sidewalk connection across the municipal boundary between Walnut Court and Luddington Road, which provides a completed accessible path from West Orange to Mountain Station via West Montrose.
• Maplewood upgraded their intersection of Walton Avenue (aka Walton Road) and Maplewood Avenue in June 2025.  We coordinated with them on their work and our upcoming Walton Avenue project will complete the accessible path from the municipal boundary to Farrell Field.

 Essex County Roadwork (as of 01/27/2026):

• Signalized Intersection Improvements (ongoing) – The project includes eleven signalized intersections. Five of the intersections are in the Village as follows:   1) Valley St. & 3^rd St.  2) Valley St. & 1^st St.,  3) SO Ave. & Ridgewood Rd.  4) SO Ave. & Prospect St.  5) Irvington Ave. & Prospect St.   (Click for Plans)     Construction began November 2024 and final paving is completed as of 11/18/2025.  

New signal equipment is being installed at each intersection as it becomes available. Once the new equipment is operational the old equipment will be removed and final sidewalk repairs will be made.  All work is weather dependent.

• Valley Street and Arnold Place Traffic Signal (ongoing) – The project includes installing a new traffic signal. Signal equipment is on order and once installed the intersection will be completed. Final paving is expected Spring 2026. (Click for Plans)
• Signalized Intersection Improvements (upcoming) – The project includes eleven signalized intersections. Two of the intersections are in the Village as follows: 1) Irvington Ave. & Riggs Pl. / Tichenor Ave. 2) Irvington Ave. & Ward Pl.

Village Roadway Assessments:

The Village recently completed its first Village-wide Roadway Assessment. A vendor surveyed the Village roadway network and developed Pavement Condition Index (PCI) scores for all roadways, and sometimes roadway sections, in accordance with established engineering practices and ASTM standards. This assessment provides an objective ranking of pavement condition on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being a newly paved roadway.

PCI values are one of several criteria that are used to considered roadways for paving.  Other criteria include traffic volume, planned utility projects, possible nearby projects for economies of scale, available funding (grants vs. local budget), project type (resurfacing vs. reconstruction), etc.

Village PCI Scores & Ranking w/Moratorium as of 11/18/2025

Roadway assessments are generally performed on a 5-year cycle.

The annual list of roadways is usually prepared each fall for construction the following year once the annual Capital Budget is approved.

Village Roadways Year Paved Chart:

Engineering Department records regarding paving date back to 1997.  Ninety-nine Village Roadways were last paved prior to 1997.  While this data is not a direct part of the decision making process when developing the annual list of roadways this information is provided because the public will often comment on the length of time that has passed since their roadway was last paved. 

Year Paved Chart

For more information contact Village Engineer David Battaglia, at engineer@southorange.org.