By Shmuel Binder. Residents of the Locust Street and Vermont Avenue area have something to look forward to later this year. Lakewood Township has entered into a shared service agreement with the County to remove existing curbing and sidewalk and install new construction in its place at that junction.

According to John Ernst of the County Engineering Department, the plans, which fall under Traffic Signal Contract 2019 A, are being finalized now with bidding to follow. Actual construction is scheduled for later this fall. The total scope of the County’s work will include 550 square yards of sidewalk and 2,500 linear feet of curbing. Lakewood requested new curb and sidewalk along the west side of Vermont from Locust to Rte 70 and will be responsible for a total of 300 square yards, and 600 linear feet within that overall project. Both roads at the intersection will be treated approximately 200 feet in at each road of the crossing. The County will also be upgrading this intersection from a flasher to a full traffic light.

In the most simple sense, shared service agreements allow for governmental entities, in this case, the Township, to ‘outsource’ or share work with other governmental entities, in this case, the County, where most beneficial for the taxpayers. Since the County will be doing work in the area, Lakewood opted to ‘share services’ and reimburse the County for the work. Anticipated costs for the municipal portion are approximately $43,000 with the actual amount to be determined at bid. At this time, according to Ernst, there are no other shared service agreements for construction with the County on the table.