The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Project on track to be built Borough received grant to help fund Town Center Parking Lot and Civic Event Area
BRIDGEPORT » ”They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Unlike the scenario Joni Mitchell described in her classic 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi,” the parking lot they’ll be putting up in Bridgeport will seem like paradise in more ways than one for visitors and residents.
Not only will the Town Center Parking Lot and Civic Event Area take care of much of the town’s parking issues with nearly 40 parking spaces, it will serve a dual purpose as
a place for holding such signature events as the Bridgeport 5K, Bridgeport Carnival and Police/ Fire/EMS Appreciation Days, noted Borough Manager Keith Truman.
“The design by borough administration and engineers, with a good deal of support from the Montgomery County Planning Commission, will be state of the art,” he said.
The construction, which could begin as early as this year, will go a long way in “enhancing the walkability of the borough, providing residents, visitors and other patrons a place to park and walk through our downtown business district,” added Truman, who didn’t know if the parking would ultimately be free to drivers.
A press release noted that Bridgeport Borough received a 2018 Montco 2040 Implementation Grant for the Town Center Parking Lot & Civic Event Area project as part of the county’s Montco 2040: A Shared Vision” plan.
Other features of the project include a rain garden, and permeable pavers for storm water management.
“We are very excited to have received a 2040 award for $196,000 to help build our town center lot,” noted Borough Council President John Pizza. “It is our hope that this lot will not only provide more parking for our current and future downtown business district, but also offer residents and visitors an attractive venue to enjoy our many community events.”
Truman indicated that breathing life into the long dormant vacant lot next to Borough Hall, 63 W. Fourth St., was the culmination of a vision that dates back several years.
“Years ago Borough Hall was surrounded by marginal residences,” he explained. “Early in the 2000s, when the county had their revitalization program, the Borough was awarded grant funds to purchase and demo the surrounding deteriorated housing that surrounded Borough Hall. The land was acquired, the houses were demolished and then the project stalled for a decade. But the intention was always to put a parking lot there.”
Eligible projects for Montco 2040 were evaluated for funding in terms of “impact, county and local planning consistency, project readiness, and funding attributes” by a committee made up of planning commission board members and interdepartmental county staff. Projects were also given “heightened consideration” when addressing one of three formal focus categories, such as Walk/ Bike Montco — Trails, Paths, Sidewalk Connections and Bike Facilities; Downtown and Community Destination Support; or Adaptation and Resiliency.
Since the program’s inception in 2016, more than $3.7 million has been awarded to various projects.
In 2018 the Montco 2040 Implementation Grant Program will provide $1.5 million for municipalities to further the original goals of “developing downtowns and community destinations, expanding and enhancing walking and biking options, and assisting with the integration of environmentally friendly infrastructure components of new development.”
Another aspect of the Town Center Parking Lot project is an effort to tie it in with multiple modes of transportation, Truman said.
“Because Bridgeport does have SEPTA bus access and SEPTA rail line access, that will be important. And the Chester Valley Trail will be coming through in the next few years. We want to make this a location that’s not only friendly to standard gas-powered engines, so we’ll have car charging stations and bike racks.”
Man’s best friend will not be forgotten in the design, Truman assured.
“There will be water fountains not only for humans but for dogs too,” he said. “This will have a nice attractive plaza with a picnic area where people will want to come and have lunch. We needed to design something that was more than just a standard parking lot to entice the county to fund it, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Visit www.montcopa.org/ Montco2040GrantProgram for more information on the grant program and to see all of the grant recipients.