Route 31 – A.K.A. “South Branch Parkway” Update

MLUC continues to play an important part in the Integrated Transportation and Land-Use Project for the Route 31 and Route 202 area. Other important players include NJ Department of Transportation (NJ DOT) and the Local Planning Committee that includes representatives from Raritan Township, Flemington Borough, Hunterdon County, as well as business, local and regional transportation groups. These groups hosted a series of community design workshops in May 2005 to encourage interested parties to assist the Project Team in developing design guidelines for the Route 31 project area.

Designers from the consulting firm, Glatting Jackson, worked throughout the week to transform community input into a concept design for the South Branch Parkway. The concept design had to be one that respects and celebrates the area’s historic and natural resources, while also providing efficient traffic movement through the region. The Parkway will run along the South Branch of the Raritan River corridor. Three case study design areas provided visions of development alternatives. Design drawings for the “circle to a square” showed a pedestrian-friendly, downtown feel for the roadways around the existing circle area.

An additional NJDOT-enlisted consultant, McCormick Taylor, is developing a sophisticated transportation model to evaluate the ways that various traffic projections function with the proposed grid-based roadway network. The goal of the project is for “through” traffic to use the South Branch Parkway, while simultaneously creating a local network of connected roadways for local residents to use.

A Market Study by another consultant -- Robert Charles Lesser--will delineate economically viable market options for the Raritan-Flemington region. That information will be incorporated into a comprehensive fiscal impact analysis of the long- and short-term costs and revenues generated by any zoning changes that are made. Understanding the fiscal implications of the community zoning options will help Raritan Township’s community leaders weigh the costs and benefits of alternative land-use scenarios. Once consensus is reached on the region’s zoning, new design standards and zoning ordinances will be developed to support the community vision for the region.

NJDOT has made a commitment to build the “South Branch Parkway” as well as the redesigned Flemington Circle. As part of the project, NJDOT will build an additional roadway network. The new roadway and traffic management design will spread local traffic on an interconnected roadway network.

The proposed project is scheduled to be completed in phases – the first phase would fix bottlenecks on existing Route 31; the second phase would build a two-lane South Branch Parkway and some network roadways; and the last phase would transform the Flemington Circle into a town square.

In addition to NJDOT support for the new land-use and transportation plan, the Office of Smart Growth, (OSG) within the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, (NJDCA) has provided Flemington and Raritan Township with a $150,000 Smart Future Grant to support the land- use and design aspects of this project.

More information on the Route 31 Land Use and Transportation Planning Project is available at www.southbranchparkway.com.