Business View Civil and Municipal | September 2022

62 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 “This is the first step towards creating the official downtown area; the old Route 206 is going transform into our main street,” Mayor Lipani reports. “With over 200 miles of roads within 54-square miles of land, we’re accustomed to making sure all our roads are well looked after and in good working order.” The town also rigorously maintains its beautiful natural resources. Families often ride their bikes along the lush trails winding throughout Hillsborough before taking a break to relax in a pocket park. Others even hike up Sourland Mountain, a 17-mile-long steep ridge, rising approximately 568 feet above sea level. “Recreation is a large part of the fabric in our community,” admits Kois. “We have beautiful open spaces like our Ann Van Middlesworth (AVM) Park and in 2017, we redeveloped the former Belle Mead GSA Depot. The 369-acre site served as a military storage facility for U.S. Army supplies during World War Two. Now it’s our state-of-the-art Mountain View Park.” With six baseball fields plus a wheelchair accessible challenger field, it’s a popular new addition to the community. In October 2020, Iron Peak Sports & Events opened nearby offering residents additional recreational opportunities like indoor rock climbing and a ninja course. Duke Farms, a 2,000-acre nature preserve made Technology to Commercial Energy Management. For younger students, the Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School (SCVTHS) has a diverse range of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs including Carpentry, Plumbing-Environmental Technology, and Culinary Arts. In the future, once the Hillsborough downtown district is established, Mayor Lipani hopes more local graduates will find meaningful work within the community instead of having to commute outside of it. “We want to create a centric, economically diverse area where families can easily walk to restaurants and shops without driving all over town.” Until last summer, that was an impossible dream because U.S. Route 206 caused major traffic congestion throughout the township. Now that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) has completed the long-awaited Route 206 Peter J. Biondi Bypass, drivers are diverted east along a 3.6-mile limited access highway.