WATERFRONT REDEVELOPMENT

The waterfront is one of Middlesex County’s best assets. However, much of the land along the Raritan River and the Arthur Kill is abandoned industrial property which has not been used productively in many years. The MCIA is involved in several projects designed to remediate these areas to attract new businesses and create parks and open space for residents.

Brownfields
The Authority is winding up its first USEPA Brownfields Assessment Grant that funded environmental site assessment work in South Amboy, Perth Amboy and Milltown.  The program also created a countywide brownfields inventory, the widely distributed Guidebook to Federal, State, and Local Financing Programs for Brownfields and Economic Development, and developed in-house technical expertise to provide brownfields advice to communities.  To date, the program has focused on large projects that have regional impacts in the county.  The MCIA recently received additional USEPA funding to develop a neighborhood-based abandoned petroleum site planning and assessment program and to update the site inventory.  Technical services will be provided to Middlesex County municipalities that request aid.

Highland Park Safe Moves
The MCIA assisted the Borough in securing over $3.5 million in transportation funds for downtown and River Road improvements that aim to increase pedestrian and bicycle safety and enhance the functioning of the downtown area.  The Borough is now managing the project thorough the design and permitting phases.

Raritan River
The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders requested the MCIA to determine the feasibility of potentially dredging the Raritan River to foster recreational boating from the Raritan Bay up to the Albany Street Bridge in New Brunswick. 

Two studies, the Dredging Feasibility Report and the Sediment Characterization Report concluded that the concept was quite feasible.  Surprisingly, most of the river is navigable, but poorly marked. To further the County’s recreational vision for the River, the MCIA coordinated a special district planning process with riverfront communities and other interest groups.  The process led to the award winning Raritan Riverfront Strategy Plan that identified local landside projects that complement the vision.  New Brunswick Landing, a floating day dock and supportive channel marking and dredging project, was selected as a catalyst project to encourage recreational boaters to travel up river to what will be the northern most navigable point.  The MCIA also submitted funding and permit applications for this project, with several million dollars committed to it to date.  The Authority will assist the County as needed as it undertakes further project management, design engineering, and construction.

Alvin P. Williams Memorial Park, Woodbridge
The MCIA, the Township of Woodbridge and Middlesex County formed a partnership to create a county waterfront park on the Sewaren Peninsula along the Arthur Kill. The project received both Green Acres and remediation funds from the Department of Environmental Protection. The park is now open and includes open fields, walkways, an amphitheater, an ages 2 – 12 playground, a water play area, interpretive history and ecology signs and other amenities. 

Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Opened in 1998, this 136-acre park on the waterfront in Sayreville and South Amboy was developed under as a joint project of Middlesex County and the municipalities of Sayreville and South Amboy, with the MCIA completing the county-guaranteed bond issue for financing the project. The park contains lighted softball, baseball and football/soccer fields; a pavilion; a riverfront walkway; grassland, woodland and wildlife habitat and reserve areas; a comfort station and a paved parking area. It is already one of the most popular sites in the Middlesex County park system.

Intermodal Transportation Center, South Amboy
This project involves a rail/bus/ferry transportation center that would be the centerpiece of a mixed-use development initiative along the South Amboy waterfront. The MCIA helped South Amboy obtain $14.5 million in federal funding for the project, and provided planning, development and other financing assistance.

National Lead, Sayreville
This 900-acre waterfront site, which once served as an industrial center for Sayreville, has been vacant since 1982. The MCIA is working with the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency to facilitate the revitalization and redevelopment of the property.