About the River Route
The History of the River Route
It used to be called the Route 130 Corridor and for decades it was increasingly synonymous with empty big box retail sites, decaying strip malls, cheap motels, empty parking lots, and other forms of suburban blight.
Today, it has been rechristened as the Burlington County River Route, hailed as the County’s “Gateway to Opportunity,” and recognized by professional planning organizations as a model for the “right way” to do suburban revitalization.
“The regional planning approach taken by the Delaware River corridor communities in Burlington County is a shining example of the benefits of proactive progressive action to guide development and economic growth,” says Ben Spinelli, the Executive Director of New Jersey’s Office of Smart Growth and caretaker of the state’s Master Plan.
More Than 200 Major New Businesses
The proof of the River Route model’s success is in the numbers. Since 2005, at least 203 major businesses have invested more than $2 billion in new projects up and down this 17-mile stretch of the County that is home to a dozen different municipalities.
Some of the cooperating municipalities are as small as one-half square mile while others command up to 15 square miles. Populations range from fewer than 3,000 to more than 33,000.
Some are almost exclusively residential. Others have dominant commercial and industrial components. Some are traditionally Republican and some are traditionally Democratic.
Working Together
“What makes the 13-year effort that transformed the corridor into a national model for the right way to do suburban redevelopment is the fact that all 12 towns banded together to work ‘regionally’,” says Dan Caldwell, a principal in Stout & Caldwell Engineering and the 2008 chair of the River Route Advisory Committee.
The 12 municipalities include, from south to north:
• Palmyra
• Riverton
• Cinnaminson
• Delran
• Riverside
• Delanco
• Beverly
• Edgewater Park
• Willingboro
• City of Burlington
• Burlington Township
• Florence
After completing a Strategic Plan that spelled out needed actions at the local, county, state, and federal levels in 1998, the Freeholders and the 12 corridor municipalities formally adopted what they called the “Route 130 Corridor Plan.”
Priority for State Funding
A year later, the New Jersey State Planning Commission formally endorsed the Plan—an important step because it gave the 12 municipalities priority for receiving state resources and funds through 2012.
Award Winner
The foresight and impact of this regional model has been consistently recognized over the past decade with awards from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association, New Jersey Planning Officials, Southern New Jersey Development Council, the monthly business publication Southern New Jersey Business People (SNJBP), and—most recently—PlanSmart New Jersey.
In 2007, the Development Council selected the River Route—and specifically its 12-town Advisory Committee—as the recipient of its prestigious Renaissance Community Award.
And in 2008 the River Route was named the winner of the SNJBP Impact Award for “its pivotal role in the growth of the region” as well as the winner of PlanSmart NJ’s C. McKim Norton Community Development Award.
PlanSmart has presented the Norton Award since 1983 to an individual or organization which has demonstrated leadership in growth management, regional planning, the environment, affordable housing, and urban revitalization.
Working in conjunction with the Freeholders, the County Office of Economic Development, and the County Bridge Commission’s Improvement Authority Operations, the Advisory Committee includes two representatives from each municipality as well as five private sector representatives.
“We have worked long and hard to re-brand and position the River Route as a revitalized residential, commercial, and industrial corridor conveniently located in the heart of the East Coast corridor between Philadelphia and New York City,” says River Route Advisory Chair Dan Caldwell.
Maximizing the Impact of the RiverLINE
“We want to maximize the impact of the $2 billion light rail line that runs from Camden to Trenton and links the River Route towns with state-of-the-art public transit. To do this, we’ve created a marketing communications program that has increased awareness of the economic development opportunities in the corridor,” Dan Caldwell adds.
To understand why the River Route success story is gaining increasing attention as “the” way to undertake suburban redevelopment, it helps to understand the geography.
The River Route is being marketed as more than just the Route 130 corridor with a nicer sounding name.
Transportation Modes Define the Corridor
The Advisory Committee has emphasized the three forms of transportation that define the corridor by including them in its new branding scheme:
• The Delaware River on the west,
• The new RiverLINE light rail system that bisects the corridor, and Route 130 itself,
• Plus a bus system that’s pivotal to the Route 130 corridor and development.
What makes this 57-square mile swath of older, classic river towns and some newer-but-aging planned suburbs a magnet for new investment?
First, it’s within a day’s drive of one-quarter of the US population. Second, it’s right between Philadelphia and Trenton, and more affordable, yet still close to North Jersey and New York. Third, it has its own state-of-the-light rail line, direct freight rail connections to the Northeast corridor, and blossoming transit villages.
Most important, “everyone involved is working together, making it easier for new businesses to locate here,” emphasizes County Economic Development Director Mark Remsa.
Affordable…Accessible…Available
As Jeff Lucas, a regional commercial realtor and past chair of the Advisory Committee says, “It’s affordable, accessible, and available!”
The Corridor comprised twelve municipalities that were settled hundreds of years ago, grew over time during the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, started to decline during the 1960s and 1970s when heavy industry began leaving the region, and continued losing economic vitality as growth shifted eastward to the new suburban communities during the 1980s and 1990s.
3,000 New Jobs
Remsa, who has overseen the project from the start, points out that “more than 3,000 new jobs have been created in the River Route…but more still needs to be done.”
$100 Million Cinnaminson Project
A fine example of the River Route's impact is offered by the County’s Freeholder Director, Joe Donnelly. “Try to imagine a $100 million project in which Local, State and County officials, and a private developer are contributing to the cause. That’s exactly what happened in the area of the old Cinnaminson Mall on Route 130, and I was privileged to be in on the action as a former Township Committeeman.
“Out of this will come a new commercial center (“The Shoppes at Cinnaminson”) with familiar and popular stores, age-restricted condos, and a new highway intersection and traffic pattern that will make it all more accessible,” says Donnelly.
“As Freeholder Director, I’m sensitive to business and job growth throughout the County. But I know firsthand how public/private partnerships have made the River Route into a ‘Gateway of Opportunity’,” adds Donnelly.
"For the River Route, the good news gets better. From an economic development standpoint, we are looking at a work in progress. Even in the current fiscal environment, developers and redevelopers continue to show an interest in the River Route communities. And as the economy improves, their interest will result in serious investment, new business and residential growth, and jobs.
"For that matter, if you listen to what housing experts have to say, communities that have ready access to light rail are poised to grow and prosper in the coming decades. You can count on more empty nesters and young professionals gravitating to towns like those in the River Route, because of their convenience to transportation, work, shopping, and other services," says Donnelly.
Center for the Entire Philadelphia Region
Cinnaminson Township Committeeman and Director of Economic Development Anthony Minniti sees the River Route as playing an even larger role for the entire Greater Philadelphia region.
"Working together, County and local elected officials have re-positioned the River Route as the new center of commerce, industry, recreation, and culture for the Philadelphia region,” says Minniti.
Model for Multi-community Economic Development
Summing it all up is Kristi M. Howell-Ikeda, the President of the Burlington County Chamber of Commerce. “National retailers are attracted to the fact that this is a regional marketplace thanks to the efforts of all of the communities. It is no wonder the River Route Corridor has been recognized as a model for multi-community economic development,” says Howell-Ikeda.