Still delayed
Today the newspaper tells us, "complications over electrical service may cause the opening of the downtown garage" parking-building-built-on-the-stream "to be pushed back a week to 10 days, possibly as late as April 24 . . . The new delay for the garage is largely because of electrical service. Public Service Electric & Gas Co. must set up the garage's power supply".

This delay means that the upcoming Communiversity, scheduled to take place on April 24, will attract hundreds of cars milling around looking for non-existent places to park. There's also the question of the new 55,000sq-ft-library opening: "With the strong possibility the garage will open after the library, the borough is exploring temporary parking solutions including allocating the Tulane Street lot for library use". One question, how do you "allocate" an existing lot that's already crowded?

Meanwhile, The Principality "Borough Council considered -- and rejected -- a proposal Wednesday that could have delayed the opening of the garage by several more weeks. That proposal would have added 17 trees along Spring Street between Witherspoon and South Tulane streets at a cost of $83,000", and would have required widening the sidewalks by 4 feet. The borough engineer "said the 11th-hour suggestion for trees would throw a huge snag into the [parking-building-built-on-the-stream] completion plans. The concrete walkways, ramps and sidewalks along the Spring Street side were slated to be poured today and Monday". With such delays are budgets busted. Never mind that Spring Street, a narrow street, doesn't look like it could stand having 4 feet taken off the roadway. Spring Street, once all the proposed construction is finished, will be shaded throughout the day. What kind of tree survives on a wet, dark, heavily used street?

The proposal was rejected . . . for now. "At the conclusion of the construction of Building C, the 5-story, mixed use building slated for the Tulane Street parking lot" the Borough council will "reconsider the proposal to plant trees along Spring Street".

Update: Narrow, damp Sping Street will be a two-way street. More street parking spaces will be removed. Delivery ramps for the existing businesses will be closed.
"Ain't that precious!"