College Avenue Promenade

The sections of College Avenue in this phase of work that will not be turned into a pedestrian plaza will be transformed into a promenade. The portions of the avenue between Huntington Street and Senior Street, as well as a block-long section between Bartlett Street and Bishop Place, will have narrowed vehicle lanes and on-street parking will be removed. Cars will still be able to drive on these sections of the avenue, but areas where pavement is to be eliminated will be utilized for expanded sidewalks, trees, and bicycle lanes. The promenade section of the project will feature a sidewalk expanded to 20 feet in width, shaded by an allee of trees whose canopies will change to red in the fall, creating a bio-swale system, which are planting zones designed to collect stormwater and runoff, and bike lanes that connect to larger city networks. The bio-swales also offer ample new space for carefully selected canopy trees and other hardy vegetation to thrive, and showcase native New Jersey landscape habitats ranging from low wetlands to dry uplands.