Hampton plans Clearview Road bridge upgrade amid supply delays

Hampton has plans to renovate the bridge connecting Clearview Road with Route 8, although due to supply delays it likely won’t happen until next year.

Township council approved a motion at its June 28 meeting to advertise for bids for the project. But Chris Lochner, municipal manager, said one of the bridge’s features will probably take at least eight months to come in, pushing installation back until May if an order is placed in September.

He said the bridge is designed using a “CON/SPAN unit” — precast concrete that is put together on site. Lochner called the delay in getting this product “a surprise,” but not necessarily bad. He thinks it will take about 60 days to install.

“It’s an easy installation, which actually in a way might be good because school will be almost completed, and you could just literally ask the contractor to sit on it until we get out of school and start the project,” Lochner said. “You’d also be able to give the residents at the top of the hill, Clearview, plenty of notice, and the businesses there, because we will disrupt them dramatically.”

In other business at the meeting, council voted not to renovate the township’s tennis courts this summer, after estimates for the project came in nearly double their $200,000 budget. Lochner said they plan to revisit the project in August, with changes to the original design to be more cost-friendly.

The township originally planned to fix cracks in the court, convert one of the six tennis courts into three pickleball courts and install additional fencing. However, estimates came in at $397,000, and multiple contractors couldn’t work within the project’s narrow time frame.

Council also authorized using up to $300,000 from the township’s emergency reserve fund to demolish a property at 5130 William Flynn Highway, Route 8. Lochner previously called the building “totally uninhabitable” because of asbestos contamination and a caved-in roof.

It will probably cost about $200,000 for the demolition and $75,000 to $100,000 for asbestos removal, Lochner estimated. If the property sells, the township could collect the money back since a lien will be placed on it.