Planning the Rt. 130 corridor

Mercer Business, May 01, 1998

With Route 130 poised for massive development as it passes through Hamilton and Washington Townships, its commercial potential might be expected to set the stage for borderline skirmishes between the two municipalities.

But rather than rivalry, what's actually developed is a symbiotic relationship, with potential benefits for both neighbors. Their goals are different. Hamilton is anticipating big box retailers, Washington a Town Center.

As Maurice Rossi, assistant to Hamilton Mayor Jack Rafferty sums it up, "A certain synergy will be created when they put residents into their Town Center and we provide the kinds of services these people will require."

The particular big boxes awaited by Hamilton are Home Depot and Wal-Mart, developments which are planned for opposite sides of Route 130 near its junction with Interstate 195.

While the Home Depot project has received planning board approvals and is ready to go, the two developments are, to a large degree, intertwined, Rossi advises.

The Wal-Mart project will be significantly larger and more complex, eventually encompassing 1.2 million square feet of retail development. Other possible tenants at the Wal-Mart location are as yet unknown, but may include a book store of the mega variety, and possibly a Kohl's department store. "But it's all speculation and rumor at this point," Rossi adds.

This massive project is expected to have its applications in place by June, with possible ground breaking before the end of the year.

Hired as consultants by Hamilton, the firm of Wallace, Roberts & Todd, whose projects include Baltimore's popular Inner Harbor, have developed a Route 130 plan designed to prevent Route 1-style excesses. This covers such esthetic and practical concerns as lighting, landscaping, site entrances and exits, and so-called enhancement zones, aimed at developing a unified image along the roadway.

"What we're trying to evolve is design standards that would allow for a district to be created from Route 156 to the northernmost border," Rossi explains, a distance of about two miles.

"This gets quite exciting," he adds, "because, in effect, it makes all of that tract much more marketable." Eventually, he envisions the area as presenting a mixed bag of development, including offices and entertainment uses.

While there are no firm plans in place for Route 130 south of the Post Office, Rossi believes property owners along that stretch are taking a wait-and-see attitude, and are well poised to look for the best types of uses.

A major strategy of the Route 130 development plan, notes Rossi, is to keep the Route 1 pace at bay. To achieve this goal, the township is working closely with the State Department of Transportation in efforts to avoid many of the problems that success brought to that highway.

"Our most frequent concern is traffic flow," says Rossi, "the convenience of getting shoppers in and out. I'm sure the people who are investing millions want to be sure it' s comfortable. This is part of the overall marketing concern. There should be ease of getting people in and out, and it should be attractive and pleasant to look at. It should be a pleasant experience in all regards."

Hamilton, naturally, is anxious to move forward in the realm of the big boxes and get them safely into place as ratables.

"The whole idea of economic development is based on stabilizing the cost of living here," says Rossi. "With a combination of these activities , plus the train station, the AMC movie theater, plus the senior housing projects that are now falling into place, we're just preparing for the new millennium."

While Hamilton is looking forward, Washington Township is, in a sense, looking backward--to the pleasant memories of Main Street-centered communities as they existed before World War II.

They hope this re-creation of the past will come to fruition with their long-anticipated Town Center, the bulk of which will be on the west side of Route 130, stretching from that highway to the Foxmoor developments.

Township planner Bob Melvin says the project, situated on 350 acres, will be designed as a "real community." He describes it as a cross between Allentown and Princeton, mixing the flavors of both of these diverse areas.

As planned, Route 130 will be the connection between the residential/retail mix centered on Route 33, and the municipal complex just across the highway, which includes the police station and library. A pedestrian bridge crossing the busy roadway is a possibility.

As envisioned, Washington's Town Center will resemble those Andy Hardy-type small towns as seen in both the movies and the reality of years gone by. The houses will feature front porches where neighbors can greet neighbors within a blend of age groups, all of them feeling right at home.

As many as 1,200 housing units are anticipated for the Center, including single family units, duplexes, townhouses, and apartments. Residents will enjoy the convenience of nearby boutique shopping, services, and restaurants within the retail area. Small units of 1,000 to 2,000 square feet are planned for this section.