GROUND BROKEN FOR RETAIL COMPLEX ON OLD FORD SITE IN EDISON
Ground was broken for the first project in the long-awaited 102 acre Towne Square retail complex on the site of the old Ford Motors Plant on Route 1, Edison.

Town officials call the project “a retail center for the 21st Century and generations beyond.”

The complex also is slated to include an outdoor walking mall, restaurants, a hotel, a movie theatre, other entertainment venues and office space. Emanuel Stern, President of Hartz Mountain, the developer, reported: “There is no timetable. It’s as the market dictates.”

Conceptually, this project was first introduced to Alliance members by Hartz Mountain Industries at the May 2008 meeting of the Middlesex County Alliance for Action.

TRENTON-MERCER AIRPORT TO GET RUNWAYS SAFETY UPGRADES
Runways at Trenton-Mercer Airport will are receiving new safety systems. The U.S. Department of Transportation will provide $1.7 million to pay for design of lightweight concrete beds at both ends of the airport’s two runways. The airport is owned by Mercer County.

The concrete beds are part of a system made to stop an aircraft that over-runs the runway, using the plane’s weight to collapse the concrete and bring it to a halt. Federal Aviation Administration standards require an “over-run” area of 1,000 feet at each runway, while Trenton-Mercer currently has between 200 and 300 feet.

Design work could start around November, with an approximate 18-month construction phase to begin 2011 or 2012.

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES 18-MONTH EXTENSION OF FEDERAL HIGHWAY PROGRAM
The US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved by 18-1 vote the extension for 18 months through March 31, 2011, of the federal highway program. The present program expires on September 30, 2009.

The extension legislation authorizes the program in FY 2010 at the same funding level for FY 2009 of $41 billion. It also provides $20.5 billion for the first six months of FY 2011. In addition, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to include transfer of $20 billion from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund. This would ensure sufficient revenue to reimburse states for on-going construction projects.

The Obama administration prefers to put off long-range extension of the federal highway program in favor of 18 months. However, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) opposes the extension and is working to pass a six-year reauthorization bill.

MIXED-USE REDEVELOPMENT TO BEGIN IN JERSEY CITY
Construction is expected to begin in September on the first phase of the Monticello, a $350 million redevelopment project to span four blocks on Monticello Avenue in Jersey City’s Bergen Hill section. The $30 million first phase is expected to take 16 to 18 months to complete, with 225,000 square feet to include 120 rental apartments and 25,000 square feet of retail space.

Upon completion, the six-year, four-phase project will include more than 1,200 residential units, 20 percent of which will be affordable housing, additional retail space and 2,500 indoor parking spaces.

NEW JERSEY WETLANDS TO BE RESTORED WITH FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS
Under a federal stimulus grant, private-sector contractors will work to restore wetlands along the Hackensack River in the Jersey City area. The project is designed to create a wildlife habitat and public recreational opportunities in an urban sector. Governor Jon Corzine announced the grant by the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration.

The State Department of Environmental Protection will supplement the project with $3.5 million from existing Natural Resources Damage settlement accounts, said Acting DEP Commissioner Mark Mauriello. The project, which will provide some 100 jobs, will involve removing debris from a 35-acre landfill in Lincoln Park, planting native grasses and shrubs and developing an access walkway.

TWO ROUTE 1 BRIDGES TO BE REPLACED IN MIDDLESEX AND MERCER
The State Department of Transportation announced projects to replace two bridges over busy Route 1 in Middlesex and Mercer Counties.

A $24.1 million project in North Brunswick will carry Route 1 over an abandoned rail line. The DOT also will make safety improvements on Route 1 between Milltown Road and Ryders Lane in North Brunswick. The existing unused railroad line will be removed, permitting construction of a wider, on-span bridge and realigning of access roads.

New Traffic patterns for the project will remain in place during construction through December 2010.

The second $18.1 million project will replace the bridge that carries the highway over the Millstone River in Plainsboro and West Windsor. The project will require overnight single and double-lane closures on Route 1 in both directions. Both project were expected to begin this month.

OLD BLOOMFIELD WAREHOUSE TO BE REDEVELOPED FOR APARTMENTS
Demolition will begin in October on the old Westinghouse Electric Co. warehouse in Bloomfield to make way for The Parkway Lofts, a 20-acre, 365,000-square-foot redevelopment.

Plans are to gut the interior of the warehouse and convert the space into 361 single-level and loft apartments and construct a freestanding two-level parking deck.

Expected to be completed in 2011, The Parkway Lofts will have immediate access to the Garden State Parkway and is located less than 100 yards from NJ Transit’s Watsessing Avenue rail station.

MARITIME INDUSTRY IS FOCUS OF JULY 31 ESSEX ALLIANCE MEETING
Maritime issues will feature a meeting of the Essex County Alliance for Action on Friday, July 31, at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority offices at One Newark Center, Newark. Registration will begin at 8:15 a.m. and the program at 9:00 a.m.

Speakers will include Frank McDonough, President of the New York Shipping Association, Mary K. Murphy, Executive Director of the NJTPA and William H. Hanson, Vice President, United States Business Development, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co.

Co-Chairs of the Essex Alliance are County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin, Business Manager-Local 68, International Union of Operating Engineers, and Ciro A. Scalera, Director-Public Affairs, Verizon NJ.
To register,Go Here.

BAUSCH & LOMB OPENS NEW FACILITY IN MADISON
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the arrival of Bausch & Lomb’s global pharmaceutical headquarters in Madison. Governor Corzine and state and local dignitaries participated in the ceremony.

Bausch & Lomb said it will employ about 70 people in the 30,000-square foot facility at the Giralda Farms corporate campus. The company produces contact lenses and eye care products based in Rochester, NY. The new Madison facility will serve as headquarters of the company’s pharmaceutical branch.

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