Bound Brook Downtown Urban Design Plan

This downtown urban design plan is the result of a collaboration spanning approximately one year between Regional Plan Association (RPA) and the Borough of Bound Brook. The plan is meant to provide a clear guiding framework for public improvements and policies as well as private investments in and around Bound Brook’s downtown area.

Bound Brook’s downtown area has suffered from repeated, very serious flooding events over the years, and these in turn have resulted in disinvestment and retail and residential vacancies in disinvestment and retail and residential vacancies. The Borough has sought to revitalize the downtown through a series of planning and downtown management initiatives, so far with limited result.

The Borough has also been an active participant for over 10 years in the State of New Jersey’s smart growth planning efforts, having received Center Designation (jointly with South Bound Brook) from the State Planning Commission in 2000 as well as Transit Village designation from NJDOT in 2003. These actions – if supported by an appropriate planning and regulatory framework – can direct State resources to the downtown area and in turn help attract private investment.

The upcoming completion of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Green Brook Flood Control project will help restore investor confidence in the downtown and set the stage for its resurgence. In addition, the much anticipated completion in 2018 of the new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River – which will provide Bound Brook riders of the New Jersey Transit Raritan Valley line with a one-seat ride into New York Penn station – will significantly increase the downtown area’s attraction as a residential market for New York bound transit riders.

New Jersey Transit is also studying the feasibility of restoring passenger rail service on the West Trenton line, which merges with the Raritan Valley line in Bound Brook. This project – if it moves forward – will add further transit service to Bound Brook’s downtown and therefore make it more attractive.

This downtown plan seeks to create a local framework for (re)development that will capitalize on these positive developments and provide the Borough once again with a vibrant, attractive, and prosperous downtown.