A Somerset County resident told commissioners on Sept. 9 that a county bridge repair that began Aug. 18 on a school bus route was scheduled poorly and will disrupt the start of the school year. Ed Carway of 533 New Brunswick Road said the project “will take over 30 days,” and that the county failed to respond to his emailed concerns.

Carway told the board: “You need to be reachable. You need to think ahead. You need to remember that your decisions affect real people.”

Director Robinson replied that the county had deferred some communications to Franklin Township officials and the municipal administrator and said she had been in contact with Franklin’s mayor. She acknowledged the public’s frustration and apologized for people not hearing directly from the county during the summer.

A staff member explained that the contractor “experienced some difficulty in locating, dealing with the water main” and that the main was “in a different position than originally thought” and deeper than expected. That complication, the staff member said, delayed the project’s design and implementation schedule.

Nut graf: The exchange highlights two issues raised at the Sept. 9 Somerset County Board of Commissioners work session: disrupted local travel and school routing from ongoing bridge work, and gaps in county-to-municipal and county-to-public communication after an unanticipated utility conflict extended the project timeline.

County officials did not announce a revised completion date at the meeting. The work was described as a county responsibility to repair the bridge; the staff member said the county would continue to manage the project and “learn from this” about communicating schedule impacts.

The resident said he had emailed the board and received no direct replies and that Franklin’s mayor had responded more promptly. Director Robinson reiterated that she had been in contact with the mayor and the municipal administrator and expressed regret that residents had not received earlier, direct county updates. The staff member characterized the delay as explainable but said it did not minimize the hardship caused to families, bus drivers and schools.

Ending: No formal action was taken at the Sept. 9 work session on the bridge timeline; the discussion occurred during the public-comment portion. Residents seeking more information were advised by commissioners to coordinate with Franklin Township officials and county engineering staff.