How Will Millburn’s ‘Complete Streets’ Project Affect School Routes?

MILLBURN, NJ — The final part of Phase 1 for Millburn’s “Complete Streets” renovations is slated to begin on Wednesday, Sept. 6, a day after the district’s students return for the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

According to town officials, a four-week construction project stretching from Spring Street to Douglas Street along Millburn Avenue will mark the end of Phase 1 for the town’s Complete Streets project, a multi-million dollar effort to improve the safety and livability of the downtown area.

The timing of the project is a tricky issue, however, as it will affect a short stretch of Millburn Avenue in an effort to improve pedestrian safety for students at Washington School and Millburn High School.

The first day of school in Millburn is Tuesday, Sept. 5.

• See related article: Millburn Township School Calendar 2017-18: First Day Of School, Vacations, Conferences

The work will include increasing the size of the existing pedestrian safety island at the intersection of Douglas Street and Millburn Avenue and making the crossing distance shorter for pedestrians. In addition to the enlarged pedestrian safety island on Douglas Street, the corner curb will be adjusted to provide space for an ADA-compliant curb ramp and improve pedestrian visibility.

Adjustments will also be made on Millburn Avenue between Douglas Street and Spring Street, including new sidewalks, ADA-compliant driveway aprons, street trees, landscaping, bicycle racks and improved crosswalks.

Particular care will be taken to facilitate easy traffic flow to the new fifth grade Washington School for cars and buses, Millburn town officials stated.

Crews will work in the area from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. Workers will be “cognizant of school traffic” and deliveries to the contractor will be limited to the hours of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., town administrators stated.

“There will be no lane closures and traffic flow will not be disrupted or detoured,” Millburn officials stated, adding that police officers will be on site during critical periods of construction to assist pedestrians crossing the street.

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“We recognize that the timing of this last portion of construction of Phase 1 is not ideal,” Millburn Township Mayor Cheryl Burstein stated. “The timing, however, is a result of careful review by the Ad Hoc Committee and its recommendations to the Township Committee, based on feedback from our community members.”

According to town officials, the Complete Streets policy was adopted by the Township Committee in 2014 to update functionally obsolete downtown infrastructure and make roadways and sidewalks safer for motorists and pedestrians.

From 2013 to 2016, Millburn saw 117 accidents, with 19 of those involving pedestrians, where Millburn Avenue and Essex Street intersect with Main Street, town officials stated.

Officials bonded $8.2 million for the first phase of the project in 2016.

• See related article: Millburn Complete Streets Project Gets $8.2M Financial Backing

Phase 1 of construction began in July 2016. A stretch of Main Street, between Essex Street and Millburn Avenue, was transformed into a downtown event space that can host festivals, concerts and more. The new “event street” features widened sidewalks, a concrete roadbed and overhead string lighting.

Millburn Avenue was also improved to include wider sidewalks, fresh landscaping with more than 40 new street trees, corner bump-outs and high-visibility crosswalks. Modern traffic signals and timing were also incorporated into the design to improve traffic flow.

Additionally, a new road called Town Hall Plaza was created to serve as a connection between Essex Street and Millburn Avenue to help ease traffic and improve the shopping experience and commercial viability in this area.

To address parking concerns and impacts expressed by residents and store owners, Millburn Township added 15-minute free parking spaces in Zone C on Millburn Avenue, township officials said.

However, the Complete Streets project has seen significant pushback from local residents, some of whom have demanded that the township place a nonbinding referendum question on the November ballot in favor of abandoning Part 2 of the effort.

The below video clip from NorthJersey.com shows residents speaking out in favor of a referendum.

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Photos: Millburn Township