Montclair may see more traffic signals on Bloomfield Avenue because the town qualifies now as an “urban county.”
Applications for federal funds under HUD’s 2011 Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) are now available from the Montclair Department of Planning & Community Development.
The funds are available to non-profit organizations whose projects benefit primarily persons of low and moderate income. Montclair is one of 18 Essex County municipalities that have formed an “urban county” under the Essex County Division of Housing and Community Development.
Montclair received $485,095 in CDBG funds in 2010, Planning Director Janice Talley said.
The following organizations (with the amount they have asked for) have presented their applications to the Montclair council who will then forwarded to Essex County for consideration, United Way ($50,000), COPE Center ($48,500), Montclair Neighborhood Development Corporation ($88,400), Neighborhood Child Care Center ($300,000), Family Service League, Interfaith Hospitality Network ($40,000), HOMECorp ($57,000) and the Montclair Township.
For a list of these organizations and what they plan to spend the money on click here.
Township Engineer Kimberly Craft was one of the presenters at this week’s town council meeting on Monday. She presented four proposed projects for Bloomfield Avenue traffic signal accessibility improvements ($87,120), a new signal at Bloomfield Avenue and Seymour Street ($194,375), improvements to Washington Street ($244,330), and improvements to the gravel parking lot behind the Bay Street Station ($41,750).
Last year, the township received $237,595 for Elm Street improvements.
Completed applications for the program are due by Nov. 29 to the township. The council will then prioritize all applications and will submit them to the county on Dec. 9.
The application is a five-page, 10-part form ranging from project summary, details, schedule and the organization certification.
$194,375 for a traffic signal? That must be a heck of a signal
One a few years back on Watchung and Upper Mountain I believe was in the $300-$400k range. It’s super high technology, Kevin. Like automatically timed and everything.
Good to see that technology drove the costs down.
A signal at Seymour Street? Are you kidding??!?!
It’s bad enough that the county never seems to have upgraded the entire length of Bloomfield Ave. to the “closed circuit loop” (as Joe D. once said to me, in writing) in order to alleviate the CONSTANT timing problems, and NOW we want to stick another signal in there, 500 feet away from the already crazy Church St./North Fullerton/Glenridge Ave. intersection?? WHY?!?!? Seymour is a one-way Southbound, it’s not like anyone will be turning out from there onto Bloomfield Ave.? We don’t need it, that that would save us almost $200K! We could use that money for something else, like salaries for meter maids to write more parking tickets!!
Or upgraded signals at the Park St./Chestnut intersection (IMO the fact that there are only 2 poles and no walk/don’t walk symbols at such a heavily-walked intersection is shameful. But, whatever.)
Why don’t they instead fix the timing for the Gates/Bloomfield light so that it doesn’t turn red the second that the Grove St. light turns green?!!?!!?
ARRGGGH!!