Complete Streets is a critically important program for the long term safety and vitality of downtown Millburn. The program originated at the Federal level, came down to the States and then to the Counties, and ultimately to the municipalities. It’s a grant credit program meant to improve the dangerously conflicting interaction between vehicular traffic and pedestrians. In considering the fundamental objectives of Complete Streets, Millburn Township immediately recognized the opportunity to take advantage of the program to address longstanding systemic problems in the downtown area.
The Millburn Complete Streets project is meant to:
Improve the Township’s dangerous downtown pedestrian walkways;
Calm traffic through downtown in order to make it safer to use the sidewalks and cross the streets; and
Update, renovate and beautify our hardscape infrastructure for our residents and to keep, attract and support quality viable tenants for the long term vibrancy, competitiveness and marketability of our downtown.
Why do we need Complete Streets? From a safety standpoint, Millburn has had an unfortunate history of pedestrian and auto accidents, particularly at certain main intersections of our downtown. For years, merchants and residents alike demanded that the Township government address the pervasive speeding problems on the main roadways through downtown. Merchants repeatedly and rightly complained that we had left turn patterns in the center of our downtown that were the root of recurring vehicle and pedestrian collisions. There were dangerously narrow sidewalks and dangerously long crosswalks for pedestrians to traverse our streets and intersections. Due to the old and antiquated street design, we had a downtown that prioritized vehicular traffic over all other uses, making it unsafe for pedestrian movement and necessitating a better balance between traffic and pedestrian needs in today’s modern world.
From an infrastructure standpoint, our downtown has been in serious need of improvement. We lived for decades with a patchwork of inconsistent hardscape, failing sidewalk and roadway materials, cluttered, confusing signage with poor visibility, and a downtown infrastructure that for all intents and purposes has been functionally obsolete with respect to today’s expert thinking on how a downtown should function and serve its users.
What are the objectives of the Millburn Complete Streets initiative? The Millburn Complete Streets project is a comprehensive street improvement initiative unanimously adopted by Resolution of the Township Committee in 2014 to address the critical issues of pedestrian safety, traffic calming and improved vitality in Downtown Millburn. It’s a direct response to overwhelming community and merchant demands to take action. It’s a way to make the downtown safer for our residents and improve our infrastructure in the long term for businesses and merchants. And, it’s a way to create a more inviting downtown experience so that Millburn can attract tenants and help our existing shops and businesses compete with other local and regional towns that have taken proactive steps to improve their downtown areas.
The Township took a comprehensive, holistic approach to our Complete Streets project to avoid piece meal, band-aid type improvements that have been tried unsuccessfully in the past. The Township is making a much-needed investment in our downtown and our merchants that, once completed, will translate into greater economic strength and a safer place to operate in the long term.
What are the key features of Complete Streets? Complete Streets is a comprehensive program meant to improve the safety and vitality of downtown Millburn. There are a variety of innovative design elements incorporated into the plan.
Some of the key safety features of the Complete Streets project include:
Wider, safer sidewalks for pedestrians
Safer corners with pedestrian bump outs and shorter crosswalk distances Mid-block crossings
Traffic calming with circulation and flow improvements engineered to reduce pervasive speeding through downtown
Reduction of signage clutter and consistent signage
Some of the key infrastructure improvements include:
Custom designed and landscaped corners
Granite and basalt pavers with custom wood and granite benches
Streetscape details including millstone inlays and a design palate that connects us to our history and identity
Street trees, rain gardens for storm water management and native plantings
Sophisticated design palate with new appointments and street furnishings
Reverse angle parking (proposed)
New and enhanced LED light fixtures that are dimmable and cost efficient
Flexible parking areas intended to expand sidewalk width to support outdoor dining and various events and programming
Multi-functional Main Street event space
Newly paved and striped downtown streets
What were the steps taken to implement Complete Streets? The process leading to the implementation of Complete Streets was extremely thorough. It’s the result of more than two years of extensive planning and engineering, and it’s the result of an enormous amount of professional, community and stakeholder participation.
A brief history of the steps taken to implement the project are as follows: Township Committee adopted a Complete Streets Resolution in July 2014, at the urging of Essex County to become eligible for grant credit opportunities associated with the state Complete Streets program.
Following the adoption of the Complete Streets resolution by the Township Committee, the Complete Streets ad hoc committee conducted a thorough vetting process to assemble the design team, which resulted in the selection of Arterial, LLC, an innovative, locally based, highly responsive and cost-effective firm with successful experience in Complete Streets projects; the committee also engaged Sam Schwartz Engineering, a renowned traffic engineering and design firm with extensive experience in downtown traffic engineering and planning.
The Township then began a two year design and engineering process that included, as part of the regular bi-weekly working group: multi-disciplinary design professionals, expert traffic engineers, our Township engineers, our Township administration and staff, our Township building official, the police department, the fire department, the DPW, emergency services and our Township forester.
Once preliminary design options were advanced to a sufficient level, multiple public open houses were held to share the proposed plan with the public and get feedback, which was incorporated into the design during the evolution of the plan. Several open house sessions were held in the center of downtown during the peak of weekday pedestrian activity (to maximize turnout), where plan boards and streetscape samples were available to the public for review, questions, comments and input.
Following further refinement, the plans were presented and reviewed at multiple stakeholder sessions that actively included the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Millburn Development Alliance (both of which endorsed the plan), downtown business owners, all of the aforementioned departments and residents. The proposed plan was concurrently presented for review to the Board of Education (including their director of bussing), school PTO leaders, Bike/Walk Millburn, the Senior Citizens Advisory Board and in direct meetings with business owners throughout downtown. During each step of the design development process, the Complete Streets plan was provided to and discussed with the County and its engineers for review and coordination, and with the spectrum of utilities and other agencies relevant to implementation. The Township obtained all requisite permits and roadway maintenance approvals.
Upon completion of the final proposed design, the Planning Board conducted a capital project review and affirmatively recommended the project to the Township Committee.
The plans were then presented in public session of the Township Committee before residents, business owners and our local media, which carried the information to the public throughout the process. The Township added a Complete Streets page to the Millburn website with timelines, meeting notifications, visual materials, project information and progress updates throughout the design phase.
What is the status of the Complete Streets project? The Phase I portion of the Complete Streets project was substantially completed in the late-Spring of 2017. The Township completed the Main Street roadway in early September 2016, re-opening the street to traffic prior to the start of school as promised. The final portion of the Phase I work, at the intersection of Douglas Street and Millburn Avenue, is nearing completion.
What benefits have we already seen from Complete Streets? The Complete Streets project is already resulting in tangible benefits to the safety and infrastructure of our downtown. Students in the area now have wide, safe sidewalks to walk on when they come downtown after school, where before they would be spilling into the street into traffic. The dangerous left turns that have caused so many serious accidents have already been eliminated. Restaurants that have been clamoring for outdoor café style seating have already begun to open their storefronts onto Main Street to increase the activity and vibrancy of our downtown. An amazing and successful Millburn Schools Ed Foundation event was held on the new Main Street event space, exactly as the design intended. We have had multiple new tenants invest in our downtown, including Blue Mercury, Playa Bowls, Hills Tavern, EVOO & Lemon, The Book House and Original Sharp. We have also had existing businesses expand in the heart of downtown, including the Millburn Deli and Umi Sushi. We will continue to see the benefits increase as the project progresses toward completion.
Has the downtown added parking spaces as a result of the project? Yes, under the plans originally drafted that include all of the phases of Complete Streets, there will be more parking in the downtown when Complete Streets is completed.
Will there be parallel parking downtown when Complete Streets is done? Yes, the majority of the on street parking downtown will remain parallel parking when Complete Streets is completed. Parallel parking has already been re-opened on both sides of Millburn Avenue from Dunkin Donuts/Haagen Dazs to Main Street where it was before, but with wider safer sidewalks. Parallel parking will also remain on the north side of Millburn Avenue east of Main Street. It is proposed that there will be limited areas of reverse angle parking at specified locations in the downtown, which are safer to use and helps to increase the number of parking spaces.
What is reverse angle parking? Reverse angle parking provides a greater number of spaces than parallel parking and is a safer means of parking. The movement to enter a reverse angle space is the exact same initial movement required for a three movement parallel parking maneuver, but requires only the first movement. Reverse angle parking is safer because it allows for a shorter and simpler movement to enter the space, it allows for trunk loading and unloading directly to the sidewalk and away from oncoming traffic, it directs passengers (particularly children) to the sidewalk when the vehicle doors are open, and it allows for an easier exit into the roadway when exiting the space. The reverse angle spaces designed into the Complete Streets project are significantly wider than a typical space, allowing for easier movement into the space when parking.
Why did we engineer the corner turns to be slightly tighter with the new Complete Streets design? One of the fundamental principles of Complete Streets is to balance the needs of pedestrians and vehicles. Our streets, as they were, were designed more for vehicles than pedestrians. This created a dangerous safety hazard for pedestrians with narrow sidewalks and speeding cars. Tighter turning movements require vehicles to make the turns at slower, safer speeds while still maintaining smooth through traffic.
Has the design been engineered to ensure that trucks and emergency vehicles can make all of the required turning movements? Yes. All design geometry has been engineered so that, upon completion of construction, trucks, buses and emergency vehicles can make the required turning movements. The Fire Department has been engaged several times throughout the design process to ensure that the fire trucks can circulate properly.
Are there street trees and what other landscape improvements have been included in the project? There are lots of trees and plantings included in the complete streets project. In fact, in Phase 1 alone, there are over 71 new trees and the number of trees and plantings has greatly increased with Complete Streets. There are also raingarden storm water planters, native landscape and potted plants throughout the Phase 1 area. As part of Phase 2, it is intended that there will be a variety of similar streetscape improvements to enhance the beauty and character of the downtown, in addition to more outdoor seating and community use spaces. Who is responsible for shoveling the sidewalk in front on my property? Although the Township has made improvements to the sidewalk and corners during complete streets, it remains the responsibility of the property owner or occupant to remove all snow or ice from the sidewalks in accordance with Township ordinance.
Where should snow be placed when shoveling? Snow should be removed to comply with local ordinance, which means that snow should not be plowed or shoveled into the street at any time.
Is there a particular ice melt or deicer that should be used on the concrete sidewalks and granite areas? Calcium Magnesium Acetate is both environmentally friendly and less damaging to concrete surfaces. A deicer or ice melt product with CMA (Calcium Magnesium Acetate) is the Township’s recommendation and preference for use on the new concrete and granite surfaces.
Who will remove snow from the flexible (concrete) parking spaces? The Township of Millburn will be responsible for removing snow from these spaces as was the practice when it was curbed parallel parking spaces. We will treat snow removal in the Downtown as we always have in the past, with the downtown center/parking being cleared after significant snowfall. In these spaces we will also use ice melt with CMA or a brine solution to prevent icing.
Who will plow Millburn Avenue? Essex County or their subcontractor will be responsible for plowing the lanes of traffic on County roadways throughout the downtown, including the reconfigured Millburn Avenue.