Best For Downtown: Bike racks, speed bumps, or new signage?

Montclair Business Improvement District Executive Director Thomas Lonergan envisions a Bloomfield Avenue without all the poles and signs that he says make it look more like Route 46 than a pedestrian-friendly business district thoroughfare. If he had his druthers, he would put up iron-framed signage that attractively lists nearby sites for tourists and visitors, similar to what is found in historic cities such as Charleston, S.C.

"The idea is to reduce distracting sign blight," Lonergan told Patch on Wednesday.

But Mayor Jerry Fried and Councilor Renee Baskerville may have their own ideas.

The three are currently hammering out how best to spend as much as $100,000 in grant money that's likely to pour in as a result of the Montclair Center's recent desgination as the state's 21st Transit Village community. The New Jersey Department of Transportation designation makes the district eligible for grant monies to fund improvements around the Bay Street Station, along Bloomfield Avenue to about Seymour Street.

The designation is only handed out to communities that have made strides in creating pedestrian-friendly, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods near a public transportation hub.

"We are so jazzed about this happening," Lonergan said. "It opens up a pool of possibilities for us.

"It was a very competitive process but we did well," he said, who next has his sights set on South Park Street improvements.

The grant applications must be handed in by Aug. 15, so the BID will be working with Mayor Fried and Councilor Baskerville, who serves the area around the Bay Street Station, to prioritize what projects should be tackled with this expected funding. After the applications are filed, Lonergan said "it won't be long" before we hear how much money will be received.

In addition to community revitalization, the Transit Village Initiative seeks to cut down on traffic congestion while also improving air quality by encouraging people to take public transportation. Studies have shown that adding residential housing options within walking distance of a transit facility, which is typically within a one-half mile radius, increases transit ridership more than any other type of development. Therefore, one of the goals of the Transit Village Initiative is to bring more housing, businesses, and people into the neighborhoods around transit stations, according to the New Jersey Department of Tranportation.

Grants are restricted to "non-traditional" transportation-related projects within the Transit Village boundaries and include:

- Wayfinding signage
- Improvements to transit stations
- Information kiosks with transit info
- Traffic flow improvements/signal synchronization
- Traffic calming measures such as speed bumps on Bloomfield Avenue
- Bike route signs and storage
- Bike/pedestrian paths and lanes

Email us at Shelley@patch.com to tell us what improvements you're in favor of first.