NEWS from the
TOWNSHIP OF IRVINGTON

"It is the goal of this administration to investigate and implement any initiative that will improve life in Irvington, and to do so with all due care, commitment and concern."
MAYOR WAYNE SMITH

Irvington Center will receive pedestrian improvements and a new streetscape, creating smoother traffic flow and well-defined areas for pedestrians, vehicles and businesses along high-visibility, yet frequently congested Springfield Avenue.

"What is needed is a complete overhaul of Springfield Avenue. Now we will fashion a nice vista so when you're standing at Civic Square (home of the municipal complex), you'll see a beautiful transportation corridor that fits into the fabric of our chief commercial corridor," according to Wayne Bradley, business administrator and head of the town's redevelopment team.

The project will be executed in two phases with state and federal transportation grants totaling $1.2 million. A state Department of Transportation grant of $400,000 will fund traffic signal improvements, new crosswalks, curbs and signage, brick sidewalks and tree plantings at Springfield Avenue and Grove Street and at Springfield and Clinton avenues, around the perimeter of the one-year old $4.4 million Irvington Bus Terminal.

"For many travelers, particularly those coming off the Garden State Parkway or up from downtown Newark, the first impression of Irvington begins at the bus terminal," Mayor Wayne Smith said.

"These projects will complement the beauty of the new facility and create an inviting, charming aura that will entice shoppers and stimulate business development," he added.

Period lighting, benches, plantings and new sidewalks and curbs are among the upgrades planned with the $800,000 federal grant designated for the four-block area from the terminal to Civic Square. Concepts include the installation of a median strip along the Avenue to increase pedestrian safety, switching from parallel to angle parking and creating bumpouts, in which the sidewalk is extended and the street narrowed. "That creates opportunities for downtown businesses to spread out onto sidewalks so people can mingle," Bradley said . "We want to create a Hoboken-style vista that gets a lot of foot traffic on the streets.

" Implementation is expected to begin this summer, as is the $300,000 Urban Enterprise Zone-funded streetscaping project planned for Mill Road, from Stuyvesant Avenue to Union Avenue, and encompassing the former C-Town.

Stuyvesant Avenue was repaved in 2004 as part of a $3 million project by the County of Essex.

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