If approved, the sidewalk would benefit the residents of the Inglis Gardens independent housing complex.
Evesham Township and some of its physically disabled residents are closer than ever to a longtime goal — a new sidewalk along the east side of North Elmwood Road.
The sidewalk was most recently in the spotlight when Evesham Council approved the township’s application for its 2017 Community Development Block Grant, through which Evesham is seeking $70,000 to install a pedestrian walkway along North Elmwood Road.
If approved, the sidewalk would provide aid to the residents of the Inglis Gardens independent housing complex who have long asked the township for help navigating to nearby shopping centers and other locations.
For years, disabled Inglis residents have voiced corners about the difficulty of dealing with drivers along North Elmwood, but until recently the township’s hands were tied due to archeological concerns of Native American burial grounds where a possible sidewalk might be installed.
However, thanks to the efforts of township officials during this past year, the township was able to secure the necessary permits from the state to build a sidewalk along a significant portion of North Elwood from Inglis Gardens to Ross Way.
With those permits in place, now the township has moved on to potentially funding the project through its next Community Development Block Grant.
The grant is run through the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and provides the Burlington County Community Development Department, and other similar departments across the country, with funds to address various community needs.
Nancy Jamanow, director of community development for Evesham, said the township was pleased to be making progress.
“We’ve been trying, which is hopefully evident by the work we’ve put in to get to this point,” Jamanow said.
In addition to the township applying for $70,000, Jamanow said the township also approved Inglis Gardens to apply for an additional $70,000 through the program due to its status as a home for disabled residents.
Jamanow said approvals for the grants would be determined sometime in the late summer of 2017, and if approved, Evesham would have until the late summer or early fall of 2018 to install any new walkways along North Elmwood.
If approved for the sidewalk, Jamanow noted Evesham still wouldn’t have a full walkway from Inglis Gardens to Evesboro-Medford Road, as some of the land after Ross Way is privately-owned property.
Jamanow said any sidewalk or walkway from that point on would have to be dealt with separately.
“It’s a process, so it’s step by step, but we are moving forward,” Jamanow said.
The township noted that any new sidewalk along North Elmwood Road would also be of potential benefit to the nearby Tanglewood and Cambridge Park neighborhoods.
