# Stanton Mountain Road, Hunterdon County, NJ



## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

Lo and behold...paving work being done this last week. Road closed to thru traffic so I didn't check out what's being done exactly. Whatever, has to be better!


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

Pretty late in the year to pave, supposed to be really cold late this week. Maybe they are using up all the leftover pavement on this job. Which as you said is at least an improvement to what is there now.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

Cycled by the bottom today, looked newly paved as far as I could see but didn't ride up.


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

merckxman said:


> Cycled by the bottom today, looked newly paved as far as I could see but didn't ride up.


Good news! AlanE let us know this was supposed to happen this year in this thread. When I last checked, they'd laid out a bunch of markers & were obviously prepping for work, but no paving had actually taken place. Can't wait to actually ride the road next spring - it's been a long time ... :crazy:


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

I saw this post on Facebook yesterday by a resident on Stanton Mtn Rd. 

"We've lived on the road for nearly 40 years now. It was government incompetence that got the road into the condition where it has to be totally removed and rebuilt. The top coat was never put down on most of the road and the catch basins were subsequently left at the wrong elevations. The township road crews have tired to maintain the road with cold patch over cold patch over cold patch. That being said, they have finally started reconstruction, but in November. At this point they have the trees cut down, the catch basins torn apart and maybe 15% of the first course of asphalt put down. I can't imagine that they will get too much more done before the weather turns. The remainder of the road Is even worse due to the constant heavy construction traffic. I feel bad for the school bus drivers and the snow plow guys. I hope that this time we get a good job when they finish next spring."

However, it has been my experience that once they start putting down new asphalt, they continue without interruption until they are finished. Otherwise, they have to de-mobilize and re-mobilize all of the expensive machinery, and it would be criminal to leave that road half-finished through the winter. So I'm optimistic that they will get the work done shortly.


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

Clinton Township is the king of cold patch. I have said before, they could take a decent road and make it worse with their maintenance. 
Only problem I can see with fixing this road is the speeds will increase. Could make it pretty dangerous to ride on as vehicles come around the corners of that narrow road.


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## trekninja (Mar 31, 2017)

you guys all live around the flemington area?


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

robnj said:


> Only problem I can see with fixing this road is the speeds will increase. Could make it pretty dangerous to ride on as vehicles come around the corners of that narrow road.


True but not really any different than some of our other goat-path roads like Still Hollow, Philhower or Longview. Thankfully/hopefully not a lot of reasons for through traffic on the road.


trekninja said:


> you guys all live around the flemington area?


I'm north of Flemington (closer to Mountainville) but periodically ride on all sides of Flemington (& sometimes though it on club rides) as well as other rural roads in western NJ & eastern PA.


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

Lebanon here :thumbsup:


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## trekninja (Mar 31, 2017)

in im flemington myself but generally ride all the area. we are lucky to have nice roads out here


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Perryville


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Went out today to check out the progress. The main section of the hill (the north side) has one course of new asphalt, and it's obvious that they plan to add another layer. Without really trying, I came in 9th out of 360 on Strava - it would have been faster if I didn't almost get taken out by a turkey standing in the road. 

I shot this video on the way down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5pUgv1Hx48&feature=youtu.be


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

AlanE said:


> Went out today to check out the progress. The main section of the hill (the north side) has one course of new asphalt, and it's obvious that they plan to add another layer. Without really trying, I came in 9th out of 360 on Strava - it would have been faster if I didn't almost get taken out by a turkey standing in the road.
> 
> I shot this video on the way down:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5pUgv1Hx48&feature=youtu.be


I rode up yesterday as well. Nice and smooth as you mentioned. Unfortunately the top of the hill is Readington township so looks like that will stay beat up for the foreseeable future.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

You guys are referencing the Stanton Mountain road that is just south of Round Valley, correct? it connects Dreahook over to Round Valley? I've been on that road once or twice and it was death-defying each time.


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

TricrossRich said:


> You guys are referencing the Stanton Mountain road that is just south of Round Valley, correct? it connects Dreahook over to Round Valley? I've been on that road once or twice and it was death-defying each time.


That's the road. By "death-defying", you're referring to pavement condition - right? Yes - this road probably had the absolute worst pavement in our area - amazingly bad. When they finish their work, it should be incredible, since their work also includes drainage issues other quick pavement fixes typically ignore.



AlanE said:


> Without really trying, I came in 9th out of 360 on Strava - it would have been faster if I didn't almost get taken out by a turkey standing in the road.


Given the change in pavement, I suspect multiple KOMs/QOMs will fall in both directions. Heck, I see that one of the segments was visited in December, no doubt checking on the pavement - LOL


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

RL7836 said:


> ... this road probably had the absolute worst pavement in our area - amazingly bad.


Now that Stanton Mountain has been fixed, I nominate River Road in High Bridge as the worst. Or maybe Nassau Rd.


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

Well, I would say the roads around Hacklebarney state park could take it. Either Pottersville Rd or Black River Rd have some major issues. Luckily I was riding my beater winter MTN bike last time around them. Nailed a pothole on Black River at speed that would have decimated my roadbike. First time I was down the road and now I know to watch out.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

RL7836 said:


> That's the road. By "death-defying", you're referring to pavement condition - right? Yes - this road probably had the absolute worst pavement in our area - amazingly bad. When they finish their work, it should be incredible, since their work also includes drainage issues other quick pavement fixes typically ignore.


Yes... exactly. The first time I was on the road, I was with 4 buddies. We were coming over the mountain from Dreahook and as we crested and headed down, we picked up a lot of speed and then the pavement went to total sh*t. We were probably doing 40+ mph. One of my buddies lost a rear tire with a blowout. Pieces of his tire and tube got stuck in the rear brake and cassette and ended up locking the wheel. He ended up skidding to a stop on the bare rim and somehow managed to not go down. The rim was damaged, though. This was 3 years ago. Last year, I headed back that way for a ride and came over the crest cautiously and the road was still in the same condition.



robnj said:


> Well, I would say the roads around Hacklebarney state park could take it. Either Pottersville Rd or Black River Rd have some major issues. Luckily I was riding my beater winter MTN bike last time around them. Nailed a pothole on Black River at speed that would have decimated my roadbike. First time I was down the road and now I know to watch out.


I've never come down Black River Road. I always go up it.... but yes, that pavement has been bad for quite some time.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

TricrossRich said:


> I've never come down Black River Road. I always go up it.... but yes, that pavement has been bad for quite some time.


Black River Rd could definitely use a complete make-over, instead of the spot repairs they've been doing. Here's a video of my descent back in May 2016. I imagine that it will be much worse after this winter. https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=G7C8-yQUJlo


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

robnj said:


> Well, I would say the roads around Hacklebarney state park could take it. Either Pottersville Rd or Black River Rd have some major issues. Luckily I was riding my beater winter MTN bike last time around them. Nailed a pothole on Black River at speed that would have decimated my roadbike. First time I was down the road and now I know to watch out.


Pottersville Rd (the section that runs north of Pottersville, also shows up as Hacklebarney Rd on some maps) qualifies as a dirt road IMO.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

I wanted to check it out , Stanton Mountain Road, yesterday but there are signs at both ends saying that it is closed to thru traffic.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

I went by the bottom of Stanton Mountain road let weekend (Saturday 4/21), after coming from Round valley and there were paving trucks there in the act of paving.


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## NJRoadie (May 13, 2004)

I just got back from riding up the beautiful new pavement. The road still has a closed sign, but the equipment is all gone and the road is complete. The town did a really nice job on the road. It has new drainage and 2 lifts of asphalt. 

It has gone from a road I would avoid descending to one I will include in my routes often. 

Enjoy!


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

NJRoadie said:


> I just got back from riding up the beautiful new pavement. The road still has a closed sign, but the equipment is all gone and the road is complete. The town did a really nice job on the road. It has new drainage and 2 lifts of asphalt.


I didn't notice any signs on the RV side but they're still around on the Dreahook side. Road is complete - on RV side to top. Dreahook side is untouched. It looks like the crews are still finishing the add-dirt, grading & seeding stuff on the sides (mostly toward the top). They did a wonderful job on paving & drainage improvements - been a long, long time coming ...

To state the obvious, exercise a bit of caution. The corners are sharp (& sometimes blind), particularly at the new speeds. Lots of deer, squirrels & turkey near/on the road also. YMMV


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