Image: Four hubs along the Raritan Valley Line for redevelopment.Plainfield must become a voice in transportation policy if the city is to make the most of its rail stations, a transit-oriented development expert told the governing body this month.
Martin E. Robins, senior fellow at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, urged the City Council on Jan. 18 to get more involved in the Raritan Valley Coalition to enhance its opportunities for development.
Robins and Darius Sollohub, associate director for infrastructure planning at NJIT, made a presentation on the visioning study that the council supported last year. An analysis of its findings concluded that the city has to leverage its train stations for economic advantage.
Between the start of the study and its conclusion, Gov. Chris Christie halted New jersey's involvement in the Access to the Region's Core tunnel project that was expected to yield a one-seat ride to New York by 2017, so Sollohub said an epilogue had to be added. Robins said it would have been "a tremendous boost to Plainfield," but added, "The game is not entirely over."
Robins urged "vigilance and involvement" in transit policy to keep track of new developments and options for one-seat travel into New York.
"You have to apply yourself," he said, because other municipalities along the Raritan Valley Line will be competing for benefits.
"You have to pick up the pieces and make something of this," he said.
Sollohub said the Planning Division will post the study on its web site and hard copies will go to the Office of Economic Development.
In 2006, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs called for four "transit villages," based on two existing and two defunct rail stations. But the designation is given to a municipality, not to projects. Officials said recently the city will be seeking a transit village designation.
Sollohub referred to a high-density residential project downtown that he said will provide the "critical mass" needed for transit-oriented development.
"You have to foster that," he said.
The Planning Board last year approved the proposal by developer Frank Cretella to create 148 residential units on the PNC Bank block and the City Council approved a "payment in lieu of taxes" plan that Cretella said was necessary to obtain funding for the project.
Several years ago, citizens and officials banded together for two transit opportunities. One was for a rail museum that was expected to bring visitors here and the other was to support a new light rail line along the Raritan Valley Line. Neither came to fruition. The early push for transit village development and re-opening of the two defunct stations has shifted to transit-oriented development that includes bus and jitney service as well as rail usage.
Councilman Cory Storch, who promoted the idea of having a visioning study, said after the Jan. 18 presentation on its implementation, "I think we have the community with us - we just have to make it happen."
--Bernice Paglia
No, we need employment opportunities that will lift the boats of our current residents and provide career pathways. We need businees that will attract a skilled workforce to the city that will bring with them their families and ambitions. We need commercial development that attracts people from elsewhere, and our own residents too, to come downtown to shop, dine, and be entertained.
ReplyDeleteDiversity that culminates in a melting pot of cultural richness and variety is far better than diversity that causes division among competing interest groups, vast economic disparities, and the defense of self-proclaimed turf. Diversity can be a great selling point, but it can also induce competition that ends with crime and gang warfare which is not conducive to any sort of devlopment.
I am bothered by the blinkered focus on residential construction in a city that has so many relatively inexpensive housing options, as well as a vast number of homes that could be improved dramatically if family income levels are bolstered by solid job growth. Increasing the supply does not correlate with increased demand, and this can actually undermine what is already here.
Transit Oriented Development is good in theory, but it's a two way street. If we build so people can leave, that is exactly what will happen.
Do not forget that Plainfield residents can walk to the Dunellen Station presently and that some may even walk to the Fanwood location. Please do not spend time/money on reinventing the wheel when these 2 options are already avaialable and should be encouraged.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU ALAN GOLDSTEIN! ALAN GOLDSTEIN FOR MAYOR !!!
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