Lawrence Township officials are going to roll out concept plans for streetscape improvements to a section of Brunswick Pike, between Lake Drive and the Brunswick Circle, at the Lawrence Township Growth and Redevelopment Committee meeting Feb. 11.
The meeting, set for 6:30 p.m., will be held in the lower level conference room at the Lawrence Township Municipal Building on Route 206.
Both Lawrence Township and Clarke Caton & Hintz, the township’s planning consultant, have been working for the past year to conduct site assessments, assemble existing conditions information and develop conceptual improvement plans for the area.
Now, Lawrence Township officials are seeking feedback and input on those concept plans at the Growth and Redevelopment Committee meeting. The consultant and township staff will be on hand to explain the concept plans and answer questions.
Lawrence Township received a $60,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission under its Transportation and Community Development Initiative program to conduct the study.
The streetscape plan will include landscaping, hardscape and gateway elements for Brunswick Pike that acknowledge the historic transportation corridor that linked New York City and Philadelphia. Brunswick Pike is also known as Alternate U.S. Route 1.
While the grant covers the cost of designing the streetscape improvement program, it will not pay for the costs to install the landscaping and other improvements.
The streetscape project will help link the residential and commercial uses along Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Township officials said. The goal is is to make the Brunswick Pike corridor more pedestrian friendly, especially for the senior citizens who live in the Heritage Village at Lawrence apartment building on Brunswick Pike.
Lawrence Township officials also hope the streetscape project will spur economic development, including commercial development, on Brunswick Pike. The grant, along with funding from the township, will make an important contribution to the revitalization of the area, officials said.
Lawrence Township officials have been focused on redeveloping Brunswick Pike between Whitehead Road and the Brunswick Circle for 25 years, beginning with a Master Plan amendment in 1995 to designate the area as a redevelopment zone.
Roadwork design plans for Brunswick Pike were completed by the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 2015. The state agency has jurisdiction over Brunswick Pike.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation moved ahead with the construction of the Whitehead Road roundabout, and also constructed a grass median between the roundabout and the Brunswick Circle. Brunswick Pike continues to have two lanes of travel in each direction.
Once the Brunswick Pike project has been completed, the New Jersey Department of Transportation will turn over control of that section of Brunswick Pike to Lawrence Township.