BY ANN GENADER
WEST MILFORD — A bridge closure, road detours and the current vacancy at the recreation department will create some new challenges for the planners of the 24th Annual Autumn Lights Festival in West Milford this year.
The popular street fair on Union Valley Road, which draws thousands of visitors every year, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Planning for the large event formally began this week when the West Milford Township Council had a resolution ready to establish the 2018 festival committee. The officials selected Rocky Hazelman as committee chairman. Hazelman has held the role for the last several years. Nine community volunteers and a liaison were also selected to serve with him.
Months before the festival, construction on the Marshall Hill Road bridge will begin and is scheduled to last for seven months, well past the festival date.
The bridge is near the ShopRite shopping center is scheduled to close in July. Traffic patterns will be affected and detours posted during the construction. During the festival, Township officials said the project could also affect parking as well, but also promised that popular event will take place as usual.
The first festival held 24 years ago was in celebration of the new traffic lights installed in the center of the West Milford Village business district. The festival has been held in various locations through the years, but Union Valley Road has been the location for the last several years.
Administrator Antoinette Battaglia said during recent a Township meeting that police involvement will be especially important this year due to the bridge closure and related road detours. The Department of Public Works will also be involved in planning this year.
Adding to this year's challenges, there is currently no permanent recreation director in West Milford. A new recreation director will be hired soon to replace Tim Roetman who resigned this year. Council President Tim Wagner has said that the new director would be in charge of organizing the event and letting the festival committee volunteers do what they do best in their roles to put it on. Wagner added that the council’s role in the festival organization is the body that as pays the bills.
The bridge construction Marshall Hill Road has been on the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders agenda since 2013. The project, which was originally scheduled to start in 2015, had been delayed for several reason.
In 2016, a county snow plow dislodged a steel plate on the bridge. A replacement was put over a hole that developed.
The current bridge was built in the 1930s. The replacement will be a precast three-sided frame structure of similar span length. Because of the way the structure was made it is impossible to keep one lane open while construction is underway, officials said.