Affordable Housing Plan in Bridgewater Stalls After Backlash

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A proposed affordable housing project near Route 202/206 is being pushed back again — and the fight is over how people would even get in and out.

The plan calls for 15 total units next to the Somerville Circle:

• 4 apartments for disabled veterans
• 11 for low- and moderate-income residents

All of it would be affordable housing.

But here’s where it blew up —

The developer originally wanted to use Cornell Boulevard in Somerville as the access point.

That didn’t go over well.

Residents pushed back hard, Somerville got involved, and lawsuits followed over traffic and neighborhood impact.

Now the developer is trying to switch things up and get direct access from Route 202/206 instead.

Problem is — that’s not a quick fix.

They need approval from NJDOT, and as of now:

• They’ve done some early site work
• They believe it could work
• But nothing is approved yet

So the Planning Board kicked the decision to May 19.

Even then, the developer said they likely won’t have a final answer from the state by that meeting.

If access from 202/206 gets approved, the layout of the project changes completely — buildings and parking would swap, and more engineering work would be needed.

If it doesn’t?

This could drag out a lot longer.

Big picture:
Bridgewater still has to meet its affordable housing requirements, and this project is part of that.

But like a lot of projects in Jersey, it’s turning into the same story:

Build housing → neighbors push back → project gets stuck.

And right now, this one’s stuck before it even gets a driveway.