Town considers upgrading GSP underpass

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Center Alliance is hoping to change the impression that people have about the township as they travel on Bloomfield Avenue under the Garden State Parkway. The site is an inhospitable no man’s land now being considered as a critical gateway into developing Bloomfield Center.

“The overpass divides the eastern and western halves of the area the BCA tries to enhance,” Ollyn Lettman, the BCA director, said earlier this week in his Washington Street office.

He said a Community Development Block Grant allowed him to hire Arterial, a Montclair street design company, to create a vision of what the overpass area can become. Arterial began work last summer on the “Gateway to Bloomfield Center Project,” which has so far included two meetings with stakeholders, a presentation to the Bloomfield Township Council and a PowerPoint display last week at the Civic Center. Critical to improving the area is pedestrian safety and esthetic enhancements.

“Another big area defined by the consultant’s report is that anything that happens depends on the cooperation of the state because the overpass is owned by the NJ Turnpike Authority,” Lettman said. “Before anything is really done, we need full support of the state.”
The project will not happen overnight, he said. If it happens at all, it will proceed in steps.

“We envision it will take several years. At least we now have a vision. Now we have to go out to raise the resources.”
Lettman acknowledged that the area will never be an active pedestrian area because of traffic and safety issues. The intent is mostly to beautify it and make it safer for motorists and pedestrians. He pointed out there is considerable pedestrian traffic when Bloomfield High School lets out, as students walk home.

“Right now, it’s poorly lit and the sidewalks are narrow,” he said. “You can’t make a left turn onto Bloomfield Avenue from Franklin Street and accidents have occurred there.”

The state has a history of not providing traffic and pedestrian amenities to its overpass areas, Lettman said, noting that a change in Bloomfield would be a first. He pointed out that the Second River, although considerably constricted, is visible beneath the Parkway overpass. He thinks possibly historical markers can be placed for historical appreciation.

It was suggested that a basketball court could fit under the Parkway, where construction vehicles are now stored, but Lettman said the state would not allow that. He also said some stakeholders asked if there could be any parking made available, but there will not.
“Let’s just clean up the area and have visual markers,” he said. “We’re focusing on traffic and safety and cleaning up the area.”

The next step for the BCA is to receive support from the Township Council and determining if the state would permit the BCA to illuminate and beautify the area. But so far, he said the project has been well-received and NJ Turnpike Authority representatives expressed an interest in discussing it.

“It’s important that we do this at this time,” Lettman said. “Bloomfield is having signs of progress with the developments. Having the Gateway Center project is apropos. It’s an indication of the new Bloomfield.”

He pointed out the redevelopment projects now under way in the center: the 30 Farrand St. project with 176 luxury apartments and a 314-space, municipal-owned garage, and the 620 Bloomfield Ave. project, with 210 luxury apartments, 15 townhouses and a 312-space, municipal garage.

Lettman is hoping for a council resolution supporting the project. He has no idea how much it will cost, but said it would require township and county funding.

“The cost will be considerable,” he said. “The cost will be short term, medium term and long term.”
The necessary cooperation will be, as well.