Tag Archives: Hamilton Street

More traffic changes afoot

While the Irving-Fulton realignment continues, plans also are in the works for assorted traffic changes around downtown, including:
* Signalization of the five corners intersection near the Union County Arts Center;
* Two-way traffic on Main and Irving streets; and,
* Reversing some one-way streets in the other direction, including West Cherry and Coach streets.
The Fulton-Irving realignment project is expected to last through April, completed around the same time the hotel is planned to be ready.
The City Council earlier this month approved a $114,000 contract for city engineers to develop modifications and signalization for the intersection where Irving, Main and Hamilton streets meet Central Avenue. The project will commence once traffic is converted to two-way on Main and Irving streets, and includes widening Irving Street opposite the arts center, modifying the Civil War monument island at West Main and Central, and constructing a triangular island at Hamilton and Central. City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said the projects should be completed by July.

Going down? As soon as the state says OK

Among the expected developments Mayor James Kennedy mentioned Monday night in his State of the City address was demolition of the Hamilton Laundry site in 2008.

There have been plans for the site for years — including a Joe Piscopo-backed comedy club — but after last spring’s flooding, it was decided to focus a park and amphitheater on the Hamilton property. Plans still call for a 7,000-square-foot black box theater and 9,000-square-foot performing arts space, but they will be targeted for the nearby Bell building, Elizabethtown Gas property and the Shami Apartments, where flooding is not an issue.

The City Council in November authorized a $825,000 bond ordinance for demolition of the Hamilton Laundry building and an application for demolition is awaiting approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection. City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said last week that demolition could occur three to four months once the state gives its OK (he’s hoping for February or March). The state, however, might require a historical soil analysis (basically searching for historical artifacts and such) since an ampitheater will be built. A similar soil analysis was required for The Savoy project on Main and Monroe.