BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
EDISON- Three towns, two bustling thoroughfares and three downtowns: that is Hannah Twaddel’s vision for Routes 1 and 27.
The representative from Renaissance Planning Group told residents at the Stelton Community Center on May 17 that after months of residents’ input and conceptualizing, the creation of a “town core” in Edison may be the answer to their Route 27 woes.
As the Edison Smart Growth Planning Initiative began to hit its stride, the public was made privy to its regional framework plan that advises the creation of a downtown along Route 27 that would complement and compete with Metuchen and Highland Park, all the while providing Edison with a pedestrian-friendly town center and alleviate traffic problems along Routes 1 and 27.
The idea behind the plan, Twaddel said, was to create a downtown-like regional center complete with mixed-use housing and retail, parks, arts centers and upgraded transportation at the former Revlon site, with satellite community centers orbiting the core providing improved amenities in a way that would not put the strain on existing infrastructure.
Twaddel said the plan, which is meant simply as a set of possibilities and in no way a proposal for development, would help Edison in “creating the quality community you said you wanted to have here.”
“We just wanted to provide you, the township and the Department of Transportation [DOT] with concepts, specific ideas, plans and tools,” Twaddel said.
The Edison Smart Growth Planning Initiative began in November with a visioning meeting where the public met with planners to discuss the type of development they would like to see in the targeted area. The designers returned with the “town core” idea that would, if well received, give the township a framework for revising the town’s master plan to include these ideas.
Delineating specific ideas for this section of town in the town’s master plan gives the township a trump card in negotiating with developers in the future.
“They can have all their ducks in a row,” Twaddel said, “so when it came time to play hard ball with a developer, they are prepared.”
The regional framework plan that was presented on Thursday is broken up into three parts, with the first part designating the types of roads Routes 1 and 27 would be.
The group proposed turning them into regional boulevards, which is DOT jargon for slower, more pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares.
Twaddel said that through the use of visual speed cues and better driveway planning, speed on both roads could be lowered while the flow of the two streets would improve, creating a “slower but more pleasant pace.” Twaddel believes it would cut down on motor vehicle accidents, especially on Route 27, where speed, a lack of visual cues and the constant exiting and entering of traffic from business driveways causes an inordinate amount of traffic collisions.
The second part of the plan describes green infrastructure of which the Revlon site already has a larger than expected open space component to it.
Twaddel said that the grid-like street network that could end up on the Revlon site would make better use of the open space already there. There could also be a component of transit that would provide a trolley or other public transport to bring people into the area with the need to park or drive there.
“It could bring in some tax dollars without bringing in a car,” Twaddel said.
The third part consists of the town core itself. Renaissance Planning offered two possible phases of the town core idea; one that remains more or less in the Revlon site’s current footprint, and another that envisions future expansion of that idea.
The town core would be a cultural, business, retail and housing center. It would be transportation and pedestrian friendly and would contain parks, arts centers and mixed-use structures.
The Smart Growth Planning Initiative is expected to conclude sometime in the fall. Before that happens, the public will be invited to several more open meetings on Demonstration Site plans, which would go more in-depth into the possibilities of each area of the plan.