| Issue 235 | September 3, 1999 |
| Issue 235 | September 3, 1999 |
At a lengthy presentation on the revised Newark Economic Development, Transportation and Land Use Plan at Newark City Hall recently, Campaign staff and community activists in Newark found a few benefits among a sea of highway plans. Several Newark groups protested the draft transport plan in June and at an earlier hearing in January, claiming the plan would increase highway access to the city while doing nothing to enhance transit, walking or bicycling (see MTR#224.)
The revisions to the plan presented in August produced some positive changes. A wide city street, Irvine Turner Blvd., leading to I-78 that has been the site of pedestrian crashes and deaths will no longer become a major thoroughfare between I-280 and I-78 (as originally planned), but will still carry increased traffic through residential neighborhoods. Second, officials agreed that parking must be ratcheted down, but passed the buck for the actual reductions to those in charge of the land use master plan. Finally, the revisions include a proposal for an extensive bicycle and pedestrian path system (see story on this page.)
However, Newark officials made it clear they are still planning to build the "downtown highway connector" near the First Street/Garden Spires neighborhood - an area already beset with pedestrian/car conflicts as children walk to Alma Flagg Elementary School, and residents walk to the City Subway. First Street will be widened to carry more cars. Other highway plans were unspecific; consultants could not even locate the proposed terminus points for the University Heights highway connector though they stated that they are "committed to building it." They acknowledged that such highway projects robbed Newark of the capital required to make alternative mode investments, but said there had to be "balance."
Several questions were left unanswered. In the June version, department officials assumed that the percentage of people using transit to get to Newark jobs would not increase over 1990 levels. In August they could not say whether the assumptions in the revised plan adopted the more optimistic scenarios. No additional bus routes or stops were discussed in the presentation, despite that fact Newark anticipates large growth in jobs due to seaport and airport expansion and downtown revitalization.
No copies of the final plan were available; they are promised by Newark's Dept. of Engineering soon.
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