Summit will get new ADA-accessible sidewalks and drainage upgrades along Glenside Avenue after U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. presented $530,000 in federal funding to city officials Thursday.

Kean handed over the commitment at a City Hall ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 20, marking the culmination of a two-year push that began when residents told officials they couldn't safely walk on their own street. The money, secured as a Community Project Funding earmark in the fiscal year 2026 federal appropriations package, will pay for a concrete sidewalk between 86 and 26 Glenside Avenue along with drainage improvements, according to TAPinto Summit.

"After visiting Glenside Avenue, Mayor Fagan and council members back in August 2024, I made the project a priority," Kean said at the ceremony.

The project traces to an August 2024 walk along Glenside Avenue, when Kean joined Mayor Elizabeth Fagan, Councilmember Jamel Boyer and other city officials to hear concerns firsthand. Residents described trucks driving into front gates, chronic flooding and children unable to walk safely to school or into town.

Months earlier, in April 2024, a Glenside Avenue resident told the Common Council she had stopped walking on the street altogether because of traffic and the lack of sidewalks.

The city has not announced a construction start date or timeline for the work.

Mayor Fagan, Police Chief Ryan Peters, City Administrator Tammie Baldwin, Councilmember Boyer and Councilmember Dan Crisafulli all attended Thursday's ceremony. Crisafulli said the project addresses two "hot spot issues" in town: stormwater management and pedestrian safety. He noted that traffic accidents are the one safety category that has risen in Summit over the past year, citing information from Police Chief Peters.

Crisafulli also highlighted the bipartisan nature of the effort. Kean is a Republican; Summit's governing officials are Democrats.

The funding is one piece of a broader push by Kean for Summit-area infrastructure. He has separately advanced a $3 million Community Project Funding request for the Passaic River Regional Flooding Mitigation Project, which would benefit Summit, Berkeley Heights, Long Hill, New Providence and Chatham Borough.