By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
With a snip of the ribbon, Lawrenceville Main Street’s long-awaited streetscape improvements were officially unveiled in a short ceremony on Main Street on Wednesday morning.
Mikey Azzara, president of Lawrenceville Main Street’s board of directors, welcomed the spectators — which included some of Lawrenceville Main Street’s members — to the ceremonial ribbon-cutting.
”We are absolutely thrilled to be finally standing here,” Mr. Azzara said. “It was many years in the works. The Design Subcommittee worked with the participation of Lawrence Township, without which we couldn’t do it.”
Mr. Azzara praised the volunteers, and especially Will and Jean Dickey. Mr. Dickey co-founded Lawrenceville Main Street in 1995. Mr. Azzara added that the group is looking forward to continuing to raise the bar and make improvements.
The streetscape improvement project, which includes new concrete sidewalks, brick pavers, decorative street lights, benches and bicycle racks, is being funded by a $275,000 state Department of Transportation grant through the federal government’s Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century program.
Matthew McChesney, the former head of Lawrenceville Main Street’s Design Subcommittee, pointed to the many years that it took for the volunteer-driven organization to obtain a state Department of Transportation grant for the work.
Lawrenceville Main Street hired consultants twice to submit an application for funding, but both times the application was denied, Mr. McChesney said. The group then decided to file a third application, without the help of consultants — and the project was approved, he said.
”It was a long time coming,” Mr. McChesney said. “I’m really excited to see of this happen. As soon as we have the light fixtures, we’ll be really happy.”
Township Councilman Bob Bostock congratulated Lawrenceville Main Street members for their efforts to revitalize the business district in the historic village of Lawrenceville.
”In 1995, when Mary and I moved here, our first drive down Main Street was a little dispiriting,” Mr. Bostock said. But Lawrenceville Main Street’s effort has turned the business district around, he said.
The new sidewalks are located on the west side of Main Street/Route 206, between Craven Lane and Gordon Avenue, and on both sides of Craven Lane, Phillips Avenue and Gordon Avenue. Brick pavers were installed between the curb and the sidewalk along Main Street.
The new streetlights will be located along Main Street from an area near Weeden Park near Craven Lane, to an area north of Gordon Avenue. They will also be installed on Gordon and Phillips avenues between Main Street and George Street, and on Craven Lane between Main Street and the post office driveway.
After the ceremony, Mayor Mark Holmes said he was excited about the partnership between Lawrenceville Main Street and Lawrence Township in submitting a grant application for federal funding.
”I would like this type of streetscape design to continue in other sections of Route 206 in Lawrence where commercial and residential areas share the same neighborhood,” Mayor Holmes said.

