Somerville Looks To Close Route 28 For Outdoor Dining

SOMERVILLE, NJ — Somerville is looking to close a state highway as one of the ways to help local businesses after Gov. Phil Murphy announced that outdoor dining and indoor retail could reopen on June 15 amid the coronavirus.

Somerville Mayor Dennis Sullivan and the council introduced three resolutions on Monday that will provide some opportunities for merchants. They included allowing businesses to use their privately owned parking lots for outdoor space and also the ability for the administration to close local streets.

One resolution from Somerville and the Downtown Somerville Alliance (DSA) is also requesting permission from the Department of Transportation to close W. Main Street (Route 28) from the intersection of N. Doughty and S. Doughty easterly to Grove Street, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m.

The purpose of the closure would be to promote social distancing, while encouraging small business activity to be conducted within the closed areas.

"The main idea is to enable our businesses with existing sidewalk cafes to extend their seating all the way to the curb line and any pedestrian traffic would be in the center of street," DSA Executive Director Natalie Pineiro said.

This would allow businesses to have more seating while still complying with social distancing guidelines.

"This will be a unique opportunity for retail," Pinerio said. "A lot of people will be weary about shopping indoors and this will give businesses permission to operate sidewalk sales and tents... We are envisioning like a marketplace where you can shop and dine outdoors and utilize the middle of the street as walking space and hopefully add in entertainment as we can. We are expecting this to be a positive thing for everyone."

Sullivan noted how Somerville has worked hard to bring a strong downtown presence since the Bridgewater Commons mall was built and they want to keep it going through the coronavirus.

"We are trying to be creative in advance instead of retroactive after the fact," Sullivan said of the measures the borough is taking to help businesses. "This is a work in progress but it has a lot of merit... This will not only help financially, but also the social atmosphere, and overall vibe. Anything we can do to help in the recovery will go a long way."

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