The Evesham Township Council is attempting to address an issue that has been plaguing residents of the Inglis Gardens Community for the past decade. The council will be submitting an extensive grant application for roadway improvements along N. Elmwood Road.
Almost 10 years ago the township constructed Inglis Gardens at 304 N. Elmwood Road as an affordable development for wheelchair accessible apartments for people with physical disabilities. However, the community did not have a connecting sidewalk that ran down N. Elmwood Road to Evesboro-Medford Road so residents, all of whom are physically disabled, would have to either cross the street without the aid of a crosswalk or walk along the shoulder of the road to the intersection.
The grant application will be for about $350,000 in pedestrian improvements along N. Elmwood Road between Route 70 and Evesboro-Medford Road, Township Manager Tom Czerniecki said.
Resident Kathleen Santomero approached council and thanked the group for approving the grant application. On behalf of all the members of the Inglis Gardens community, Santomero said she was grateful for this resolution.
“This has been a plight of the handicapped individuals that live in a so-called independent facility for the past 10 years,” she said.
Recently, Santomero said she had to save a blind resident of the development when he had stepped out into the street after being forced from the sidewalk when a sprinkler system came on and confused him.
“I’m worried that someone is going to be killed along this road,” she said.
Czerniecki encouraged the members of council to include the public comments in the official grant application, because he said it would go a long way into encouraging the representatives for the state department of transportation to approve the grant.
Because the road is surrounded by medium density housing, is near a large church, and retail development, Czerniecki said the corridor fits well into the state’s Smart Road Planning Goals.
The grant application will likely be sent into the state by Sept. 23.
