Paterson Mayor Joey Torres defends delays in roadway improvements

Paterson Mayor Joey Torres is defending delays in improvements to the city’s roadways.
Torres targeted about 43 miles of roads to get repairs when he was elected for his current term. The project began two years ago and only 16 miles of roadway have so far been completed. Fourteen miles are currently under construction and 13 miles or road have not yet seen any work.
The mayor blames bad weather as well as utility and sewage work for the delays.
“The project was the roads. I never said it would be in a timely manner,” Torres says. “Had PSEG not done major gas line work and overhead electrical work and Passaic Valley Sewerage not done main sewer jobs, then we probably would have.”
Torres says that he is confident all of the work will get done, but maybe not before the end of his next term.
“What’s the value of a timeline? It’s irrelevant. The number of miles are getting done and it’s coming under budget. That’s a success story,” he says.
Some Paterson residents say that they are happy with the work that Torres is doing by fixing the roads.
But others say that the work needs to be completed faster, because the bad roads are causing damage to their cars.
“The last time I spent over $350 to fix my tires,” says Paterson resident Anthony Gardner.
The road project is currently well under the $37 million budget. Torres says that if it stays that way, up to 20 more roads can be fixed.