Officials in Camden this week celebrated the completion of $10 million in street improvements on a key corridor known as one the worst roads in the city. They also used the occasion to honor a local sports hero who grew up in the neighborhood and went on to win a college football Heisman Trophy and star in the NFL.
The street was dedicated to Mike Rozier, a former NFL player who attended the former Woodrow Wilson High School.
Rozier went on to play for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1983, and then for the Houston Oilers in the NFL. He attended the ceremony Tuesday near the intersection of Marlton Pike and 27th street that featured the unveiling of a street sign with his name on it.
“I grew up around here, two blocks down,” Rozier told NJ Advance Media after the event. “I used to play football right here in Washington Park. I wasn’t always on top of my game. I fell off a couple of times, but got back up. I didn’t quit. I did something good, they can do something good.”
The project encompassed 27th street from Marlton Pike, near Route 130, to Federal streets and Baird Boulevard and was completed in four phases.
“One time I was knocking on the door of a gentleman who lived a few blocks down from here,” Mayor Victor Carstarphen said at the ceremony Tuesday under a cloudless sky and warm, late-morning sun. “I asked him how long he had been living here, and he said 52 years. Then I asked how long had the road been messed up, and he said ‘52 years.’”
Carstarphen said the $10 million investment was a proud and transformative moment.
“This is the best it has ever been, right now,” said a neighbor who declined to give his name, taking in the event. “This has been needed.”
The New Jersey Infrastructure Bank provided $3.5 million to the county that was dedicated to widening 27th Street, installing a south side parking lane with two-way travel, installing new curbs, handicap ramps and sidewalks, fully reconstructing the road and putting in a new traffic signal at the intersection of Berkley Street. An additional $81,500 was used to pave 27th Street’s alleyways and the cost of sewer and stormwater upgrades was paid for by the city through the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank for $5.5 million. The state Department of Transportation provided an additional $750,000 grant for concept development and design of the project.
“This is an incredible moment for our East Camden residents,” Angel Fuentes, Camden City Council president and former Woodrow Wilson alumni, said in a statement. “So many residents along the street take great pride in their property, but the old roadway conditions were awful. It was the worst road in the city, if not the county.”
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Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com.
