The Borough of Roselle Park thought netting improvements below various rail bridge structures would solve the bird problem, but the project hasn't been able to mitigate the public health concern or be entirely harmless to wildlife.

Older netting existed, but the latest bird-proof netting project began in the fall of 2024 at the intersections of Locust Street and Webster Avenue and Chestnut Street and Lincoln Avenue.

Prior damaged netting caused birds to get stuck, so the borough decided to repair the netting rather than getting rid of it entirely. The new netting has been successful at blocking birds' access from the underpass, but the borough wasn't aware of gaps up on the rail deck.

Andrew Casais, the borough's business administrator, says the change in netting is confusing the birds and causing them to get stuck.

"I believe every council member, the mayor, got at least 20 calls, 20 emails before 10 a.m.," said Casais. "Quickly, it became apparent that there was a very significant issue that we needed to address."

The borough announced on Monday that it's in touch with its netting vendor, and all netting will be removed shortly. The removal could happen as soon as Wednesday.