Community Meeting Brings Assunpink “Daylighting” to the Light of Day

October 21st, 2014 by Nicholas Dickerson

A view of the vacant lot that currently covers the Assunpink Creek, towards the obscured S. Broad Street Bridge. Across the street is Mill Hill Park.

A view, looking toward the obscured S. Broad Street Bridge, of the vacant lot that currently covers the Assunpink Creek in Trenton. Across the street is Mill Hill Park.

In the 1970s, the Assunpink Creek, in downtown Trenton between S. Broad Street and S. Warren Street, was diverted into a concrete tube – a culvert – and buried underground in order to create more developable land. Most of the planned development never took place and the city was left with no creek, an urban eyesore and eventually a dangerous situation as the culvert began to collapse. After years of studies and planning, the City of Trenton and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are now poised to move forward with the removal of the culvert and the restoration of the creek to a more natural setting. This process of uncovering a buried creek is commonly referred to as “daylighting.”

On Sept. 15, New Jersey Future facilitated an open public meeting at Thomas Edison State College where community members began a dialogue with representatives from the City of Trenton and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the creek daylighting, the new public park that will be created and how this project will generate a new focal point for downtown Trenton. There was also an opportunity to discuss the recent plans to improve the adjacent Mill Hill Park and the ongoing inaction over repairs to the adjoining historic S. Broad Street Bridge.

Five main themes that were viewed as critical to the success of these initiatives emerged from the discussion: maintenance and upkeep, safety and accessibility, aesthetics, recreation and education. To read more about these five issues or the specific recommendations that followed, please see the meeting summary.