November 2024
Posted: 11/26/2024 1:03:14 PM
Somerset County’s updated circulation plan, Keep Somerset Moving: Transportation Plan 2045 was approved by the county Planning Board October 15, 2024. Developed through the NJTPA Subregional Studies Program, the plan seeks to improve mobility and travel in the county and provides a process for identifying and selecting priority transportation improvements.
The plan was based on an “inclusive and collaborative community and stakeholder engagement effort.” This included a dedicated website; social media posts; virtual focus groups and open houses; a survey and interactive mapping tool; and participation in community events. In all, there were over 1,000 survey responses and other engagements with the public to gather input on the plan.
The plan identifies safety as the highest priority for roadway planning with a particular focus on improving safety and conditions in minority and low-income communities. It also recognizes the need to locate affordable housing units in areas with safe and accessible multimodal transportation options.
Among the key recommendations of the plan:
- Forty-two roadway and bridge projects consisting of seven roadway corridors, one intersection, two highway interchanges, and 32 bridge projects.
- Continue to implement a comprehensive project development process structured to develop multimodal projects that address a diversity of needs and achieve multiple plan goals.
- Review and update the County Complete Streets Policy based on Complete + Green Streets guidance.
- Support attainment of 100 percent Complete Streets Policy adoption by the municipalities.
- Work with the municipal partners to review and update their municipal circulation elements and assure compatibility with land use, housing, and affordable housing elements.
- Ensuring access and connectivity to safe multimodal systems and consistency with the County Investment Framework and sewer service area are key factors when selecting sites for affordable housing projects.
- Strengthen the connections between land use and transportation planning through innovative zoning, access management, redevelopment, and other methods at the municipal level.
- Support the NJTPA’s effort to prepare Safety Action Plans.
- Take a lead role in the advancement of electric vehicles and connected and automated vehicle implementation strategies.
- Implement the recommendations Walk/Bike/ Hike Study along with the regional trail projects from the County Preservation Master Plan.
- Initiate targeted planning studies include on key roadways and transit systems.
The approved plan is available on the NJTPA website.
Posted: 11/14/2024 4:22:26 PM
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pes, national director ALICE, at United Way of Northern New Jersey, stood before the NJTPA Board of Trustees at its November 12 meeting to introduce them to a person we all know -- a person that can be called ALICE because they are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
“ALICE works in jobs that we need to keep our economy running smoothly and yet struggles to afford household basics and support their family" because their wages don’t cover the basic costs in the place where they live.
ALICE started as a pilot program in Morris County that United Way took nationally to more than 3,000 counties. Measures to collect data on ALICE populations “have been developed to better understand what’s actually happening in our communities,” Hoopes said.
As part of the Board’s Long Range Transportation Plan speaker series, Hoopes explained how the program fits into transportation and planning.
Ten percent of households in New Jersey are below the federal poverty level of $18,310 but the ALICE Household Survival Budget in New Jersey is $46,932 – a level that another 26 percent of households struggle to reach. “That means more than a third of households in New Jersey [1.3 million] are struggling paycheck to paycheck just trying to cover those basic costs,” Hoopes said. The survival budget takes into housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, technology, taxes, and more.
ALICE populations are in every county in New Jersey, varying from a low of 25 percent in Hunterdon County to a high of 56 percent in Cumberland County. Even within counties, ALICE levels vary widely. Essex County runs from a low of 8 percent of households in Glen Ridge and North Caldwell to a high of 63 percent in Newark.
Hoopes encouraged the Board and its partners to embed ALICE and its perspectives early in the planning process. “You have the ability to make investments that can really change the outcome for a lot of families,” she said, considering how projects can make transportation, or any aspect of ALICE’s budget, more affordable and more accessible.
“There’s a lot that can be done to decrease costs, connecting low-cost housing to jobs, as well as the basics of childcare, schools, grocery stores, and healthcare," Hoopes said.
There was a big jump in ALICE after the Great Recession from 2007 to 2010. Since then, the poverty rate has been flat while the number of ALICE households has continued to grow, Hoopes said, noting "That's happening through different administrations, different economic conditions.”.
The ultimate goal is the American Dream: “If you’re working hard, you should be able to support your family, "she said.
A recording of the the presentation is available here. The United for Alice website is here https://www.unitedforalice.org/
Posted: 11/6/2024 12:04:35 PM
The Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk, developed through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority’s Vibrant Places Program, has won a New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association 2024 Outstanding Community Engagement Award.
The Vibrant Places Program offers free technical assistance to counties, municipalities and community organizations in the NJTPA region for creative placemaking projects that aim to strengthen connections between people and places that enhance the social, physical, and economic fabric in communities across the region. The NJTPA funds the program and provides technical assistance in partnership with the Public Outreach and Engagement Team at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University.
The Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk was one of two projects completed through the program during Fiscal Year 2024. The Heritage Walk highlights the rich legacy of Springwood Avenue, once a vibrant center of Black-owned businesses, music, and community on the west side of Asbury Park. Diane Shelton of Interfaith Neighbors, proposed the heritage walk, which seeks to honor the historic neighborhood and inspire future revitalization.
The project included extensive research, including interviewing residents and businesses to create oral histories and archives. The result is a virtual tour that documents the more than 250 businesses and cultural sites that were once along Springwood Avenue. The project also provided recommendations for making a physical heritage walk, including banners, signage and potential historic designation.
The virtual tour can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/SpringwoodAveHeritageWalk.