Looking forward to tire damage, chipped car paint, bicycle wipe-outs, gravel all over your driveway and front yard, smelly and sticky bitumen (a kind of thick diesel oil) all over your tires and shoes? Get ready — it’s coming on Monday, September 22.
That’s right: If you love driving on gravel roads, you’re going to love this.
Cheap-O Road Work
With no announcements and without warning to residents, the Clinton Township Council voted a resolution on September 10, 2025 to “chip seal” 8 township roads rather than properly repair and maintain them. (Read what happened in one city.)
The work will begin on Monday, September 22 and be completed in just 4 days — giving some hint about what a quick-and-dirty job this will be.
Buried in an online article in The Hunterdon Review is news that the township will spend $482,905.40 to spray black, sticky oil slurry and gravel on 8 roads. Proper road resurfacing costs 2-3 times that much.
If you have young kids that like to ride their bikes, they probably will have to play video games instead.
8 township roads to get “slurry” and “chip seal”
These roads will get the treatment starting Monday — unless residents tell Mayor Mullay and the Council to not make a mess:
- Sand Hill Road
- Old Mountain Road
- Valley Crest Road
- Molasses Hill Road
- Sky View Garden Road
- Dogwood Drive “up to where it narrows”
- Payne Road
- Stanton Mountain Road
To get an idea of what the results will be, take a drive on Railroad Avenue between Mountain Road and Whitehouse Station. Cars drive by leaving clouds of dust and spraying gravel in all directions.
Riding a bike on the loose gravel of chip seal is begging for a nasty wipe-out.
But the township is saving money, cheaping out by not doing proper roadwork. That’s why your municipal taxes are going up almost 10%.
What is “chip sealing”?
Chip seal involves:
- Spraying a thin layer of hot asphalt or bitumen onto an existing road surface.
- Spreading crushed stone or gravel (called “chips”) over the asphalt.
What’s the problem with chip sealing?
For that extra 10% in taxes, you get:
- Loose crushed stone and bitumen or excess stone can cause safety and environmental issues such as cracked windshields, chipped paint
- It’s a serious safety risk for motorcyclists, bicyclists, and small trucks
- It can clog drainage systems
- The chips pre-coated with bitumen result in tires flinging this tar-like substance onto cars, which can only be removed with solvent or diesel fuel
- Generates more roadway noise
And, oh, yeah — you track sticky black tar into your car and your house if you step in it.
And Clinton Township regresses to days of gravel roads everywhere.
Your road mess is scheduled for next week
Township equipment and crews are already scheduled to roll out starting Monday. Every resident that’s concerned about this should contact Mayor Brian Mullay and the Council immediately using every method available.
- E-mail them all: Council members e-mail list is here: https://www.clintontwpnj.gov/pages/mayor-and-council
- Call them all: there’s just one number 908 735-8800 – leave a message for Mayor and Council members with the Administrator or Clerk
- Visit the Mayor’s and Administrator’s office at: 1225 Route 31 South
Better hurry up. They’re starting on Monday, September 22.
What’s up with cheaping out?
Clinton Township’s finances are a mess. Newer and long-term employees have been quitting or being laid off in unprecedented numbers. Mayor Mullay claims this saves money. Remaining employees say they can’t find their boss, the Administrator, when they need him — perhaps because he’s rarely there because he’s part-time for 2 days a week, working on a “contract” for years as an “unspecified expense.”
Public records requests reveal there is no written “contract.”
Meanwhile, mayor and council are spending millions on “affordable housing” consultants that advise the council to just keep building. Just one playground for one project will cost taxpayers an estimated $2 million.
If you’re a Clinton Township resident living on one of the 8 roads, and you call or e-mail the mayor and council, do us a favor: drop us a note (better yet, cc us) at admin@exmayor.com or text 908 236-8440 to let us know you complained. The township has a bad habit of claiming “no one has a problem with what we’re doing.” Keep your elected officials honest.
Keep your road clean and safe.
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