- City:
- Avenel, Woodbridge Township, NJ
- Site Type:
- Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels, Infrastructure and Utilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1937
Description
The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant for the construction of an underpass to carry Avenel Street under the train tracks in Avenel, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey (at the train station). The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. The PWA provided a grant of $98,100 for the project, whose total cost was $243,367.
New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: “Work on the project was started by railroad forces September 24th, 1936, construction under contract began November 4, 1936, and the project was completed on November 30, 1937. After construction was under way the Board, on April 15, 1937, acting on application of the Township of Woodbridge, amended its order so as to include a pedestrian subway as part of the project.”
As of 2017 the underpass is wonderfully decorated, with large murals.
PWA Docket No. NJ [W]1099
Source notes
Source: National Archives: Record Group 135: Public Works Administration; Projects Control Division; Entry 52: Indices to Non-Federal Projects; Report No. 5: Status of All Completed Non-Federal Allotted Projects, page 18.
New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners, 1937 Report (pg. 69-70): https://dspace.njstatelib.org:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10929/33076/1937.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (accessed Mar. 2018)
Google Street View imagery
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on March 26, 2018.
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