The Spring 2017 Urban Design Studio re-imagined the Route 139 – Bergen Arches Corridor in Jersey City, New Jersey into a multi-modal, mixed use, world class asset for the city. The 188 acre, one-mile long site, lies between Journal Square and the Heights, in which the Bergen Arches act as an “urban dent” disconnecting the two from each other.
Five unique plans were created to tackle the problems along the corridor and to showcase the full potential Jersey City could offer to the city’s residents. Although different, the plans shared key elements: a linear park running along the corridor, design responses to the Bergen Arches, mixed-use buildings which provide upwards to 20 thousand new residents and thousands of new office and retail square feet, a new light rail system with a minimum of two new stations, and inventive ways to address parking and traffic on Route 139.
These five plans were visions for the future by millennial planners and designers. They incorporated a wide range of bold design precedents and were a reflection of both domestic and international urban design exposure of the studio members.