Mark A. Remsa, a principal planner in the Burlington County Office of Land Use Planning, was assigned the project in 1995. By bringing together the 12 river towns that line the highway and once competed for redevelopment, he said yesterday, the plan transcended home-rule issues and party affiliations.
``I am beaming with pride,'' Remsa told the gathering of about 100 people, including officials from the 12 towns, county freeholders, State Sen. Diane Allen (R., Burlington), and Assemblyman Jack Conners (D., Burlington).
Remsa said the plan was the first step in a 15- to 20-year project to revive businesses along the once-prosperous highway. It eventually may cost between $800 million and $1 billion in public and private funds, he said.
The moment was marked yesterday with a veritable love fest.
``It's lovey-dovey because a lot of effort went into the plan,'' Freeholder James Wujcik said. ``A lot of people wrapped their arms around it, and now they have the opportunity to make it work.''
Gov. Whitman now must sign into law the legislation that will bring the initial seed money.
One of the projects expected to be funded is the transformation of the old Willingboro Plaza shopping center. Plans call for replacing the center, which is being torn down, with a thriving town center that will house the local library, shops, and a branch of Burlington County College.
Other projects being considered are a food distribution center on the Burlington Township-Florence Township border, which may create as many as 4,000 jobs; the cleanup and redevelopment of the Roebling Steel Mill site in Florence; the transformation of Burlington Island into a golf course; and the refurbishing of the Golden Triangle, an abandoned industrial park in Riverton.
Florence, meanwhile, is looking to prosper from the increased accessibility that a new turnpike exit will bring.
Florence Mayor George Sampson said the 70 buildings of the steel mill complex on a bank of the Delaware River represent a promising center for commerce.
The mill, which is listed as a federal Superfund site, has been closed since 1974. The township has begun condemnation of the property and hopes to turn it over to a developer this year, Sampson said.
Sampson said the mill once accounted for a third of the township's tax revenues. He described the sounds of the bustling industry then as ``music to our ears.''
Today, he said, ``the silence is deafening.''
Willingboro Mayor Lavonne Johnson echoed Sampson's remarks in describing Willingboro Plaza, which once attracted thousands of shoppers from all over South Jersey and Pennsylvania.
``Willingboro was once the jewel of Burlington County,'' Johnson said. ``The initial $5 million will certainly be the jump-start that we needed.''
