loucheNJ wrote: What does "along the Sixth Street Embankment" mean - at ground level using the grassy area along 6th or building an elevated light rail on the embankment? I tried to open the study but only get half pages - perhaps there is a clearer explanation there.

5.3.2 Bergen Arches/6th Street Embankment Mass Transit Options (pg 99 of 184) This alternative assumes the construction of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) line or a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along the abandoned Bergen Arches rail ROW parallel to NJ Route 139. Although the precise alignment of the system is not yet determined, it would presumably connect the study area with the Secaucus Transfer Station. This concept would allow the development of intercept parking at the Secaucus Transfer Station and the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

JERSEY CITY REGIONAL WATERFRONT ACCESS AND DOWNTOWN CIRCULATION STUDY Table 7-20: Scores and Rankings of Transit Projects (*BrightMoment NOTE*: The table below does not include 8 parts of the grid which focus on: "Time Frame-Points","Ped and Bicycle Accessibility", "Ped and Vehicular Safety", "Construction and Env. Impacts", "Access to Study Area", "AM Peak - Regional AM Peak", "Local PM Peak - Regional PM Peak", due to size of original grid. Click this url for full grid: Table 7-20: Scores and Rankings of Transit Projects)

loucheNJ wrote:
What does "along the Sixth Street Embankment" mean - at ground level using the grassy area along 6th or building an elevated light rail on the embankment?

I tried to open the study but only get half pages - perhaps there is a clearer explanation there.

BrightMoment wrote:
Below is the .pdf of the HPNA letter submitted today into public record in response to the Draft Report of the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study. For more information on this study and the four proposed concept plans, please visit http://www.downtownjcras.com .

Special thanks to Jon Gellman for attending the Tuesday morning Steering Committee city meetings regarding this issue, and to all community members who have spoken out against the proposed 11th Street Viaduct that threatens our neighborhood.

Hope to see everyone at tomorrow's annual June festival in Hamilton Park!
- Jen Greely
**********************************************
Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association
Est. 1977

June 8, 2007
Re: Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access And Downtown Circulation Study

To Whom It May Concern:

For the past 30 years, the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) has been active in community affairs affecting the Hamilton Park neighborhood of Downtown Jersey City. The Hamilton Park neighborhood is bounded by Marin Boulevard to the east, Division Street to the west, 12th Street to the north, and 6th street to the south. With
around 100 dues-paying members and well-attended monthly public meetings, the HPNA takes seriously its role as a community sounding board and activist group for local issues.

As such, the HPNA participated in the 2007 meetings of the Steering Committee for the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study. It is extremely unfortunate that these meetings were held at 8:30 am on weekday mornings, making it very difficult for the HPNA to attend more meetings. As it was, our single representative had to take personal time from work in order to be briefed on these very important issues. The following summarizes concerns raised by residents of the Hamilton Park neighborhood as well as the unanimous consensus reached by voting dues-paying members of the HPNA at our May General Membership meeting.

Concept 1: Jersey Avenue Extension to Audrey Zapp Drive

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supports the construction of an emergency vehicle-access single lane road with bicycle access between Liberty State Park and Jersey Avenue. We strongly oppose the construction of a two-lane general traffic road.

Building the Jersey Avenue Extension would permit yet more cars to enter Downtown Jersey City at a particularly vulnerable location. Jersey Avenue and Grand Street is a
highly trafficked intersection for children traveling to and from two schools as well as a primary hospital for Jersey City. The flawed scoring model in the Draft Report does not
adequately provide for safety concerns of pedestrian schoolchildren making their way to class or emergency vehicles making their way to the hospital at the same time as the a.m. rush traffic period.

In addition, the construction of a Jersey Avenue Extension general access road would permit commuters to exit the New Jersey Turnpike and cut through Liberty State Park as
an attempted shortcut before reaching the Grand Street Exit, disrupting the peaceful nature of the open green space that is our local treasure in Liberty State Park. It would also permit commuters in cars to attempt access to the Holland Tunnel or Hoboken through the small, local streets of several historic districts. Already there are unsafe levels of commuter traffic along the historic streets of Erie and Monmouth, to which the Jersey Avenue Extension would undoubtedly worsen.

Concept 2: Center/Merseles Structure over Montgomery Street

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supports the construction of this revised Christopher Columbus exit off the New Jersey Turnpike. This structure would make for a safer exit from the Turnpike by avoiding cross-traffic and pedestrian traffic at Montgomery Street. We encourage planners to consider this Concept and in doing so, make every effort to maintain a safe pedestrian environment with alternative pedestrian means for those traveling on foot and by bicycle.

Concept 3: Merseles/Wilson/Aetna Street Extensions

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association opposes Concept 3. Although it might facilitate traffic flow in those few blocks, the additional traffic burden on neighboring streets that are not designed to support such congestion is detrimental to the overall community.

Concept 4: 11th Street Viaduct

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association vehemently opposes the construction of an elevated viaduct along 11th Street. This elevated highway would purportedly allow direct
access for cars exiting the New Jersey Turnpike to the Newport waterfront area of Jersey City in an effort to decrease congestion on other local streets. In doing so, it would also introduce an elevated highway to a quiet, historic neighborhood of brownstone-lined streets surrounding an historic park. The neighborhood would bear no direct benefit, yet would bear all the burden of having a highway cut through its quiet streets. Air quality and noise issues notwithstanding, the aesthetic disharmony introduced by constructing a highway through a 140-year old historic neighborhood is of grave concern.

Furthermore, this elevated viaduct would cut directly over the corner of Enos Jones Park on Brunswick Avenue. This infringes not only on the limited amount of green space available to Downtown Jersey City residents, but also raises safety concerns related to litter and exhaust fumes polluting the open space in and around the park itself. Residents of new-construction buildings along 10th Street also face the reality of having their views altered to look out on a highway passing directly outside their windows. Unfortunately, the model used for scoring the proposed traffic projects in the Draft Report does not address these vital quality of life issues at all. This flawed scoring model leads to an unbalanced evaluation score that does not reflect the burden borne by the Hamilton Park neighborhood should the 11th Street Viaduct become a reality.

At a time when neighboring metropolitan areas such as New York City are exploring ways of reducing vehicle congestion through innovative means such as congestion-use taxes and improved or extended public transportation, it is sad and counter-intuitive to build something as extensive as an elevated viaduct through an historic neighborhood to commuters in private vehicles. The Newport Waterfront area is already served by several means of public transportation, including a PATH station, a
New Jersey Transit Light Rail stop, ferry service, and numerous bus lines. Public funds should be spent on improving these existing modes of public transportation into an already thriving business community, not constructing an elevated viaduct for additional commuter traffic that ultimately threatens the safety and harmony of a quaint historic district of Downtown Jersey City.

Additional Thoughts

In addition to the aforementioned Concepts, the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supports the extended use and construction of bicycle lanes and improved pedestrian traffic signals, in addition to smart-growth plans for parking ratios throughout the Downtown area.

In order to curb the tide of commuter vehicle traffic speeding through the historic districts we also encourage planners to explore the possibility of alternate one-way sets of blocks on streets that are heavily traveled at high speeds. This method of having three or four blocks designated one-way north, then or four blocks designated one-way south along the same street (such as Monmouth Street, Coles Street, or Erie Street, all of which have serious problems with excessive commuter traffic) has been implemented in neighboring Hoboken with great success. It frustrates commuters trying to snake through downtown in order to avoid Holland Tunnel traffic and slows the flow of regular traffic through the historic neighborhoods, making it safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association and extended Hamilton Park community appreciates your consideration of our neighborhood views. We look forward to the opportunity to work further on helping to develop these plans in the coming years.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Z. Greely
President, Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association
Email: hpnajc@gmail.com
Website: www.hamiltonpark.org
Blog: http://hamiltonpark.blogspot.com

PHResident wrote:

Option 4 takes people much further north than many of them need to go. Washington Street in Newport is already a mess. I cannot imagine adding more traffic to it.

super_furry wrote:
The FOURTH PUBLIC MEETING for the Jersey City Division of City Planning's Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study will be held on Thursday, May 24 at 6 PM. The meeting will be in Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 280 Grove Street.

At the May 24 public meeting, the consultant team will present their recommendations on projects that address projected deficiencies in the transportation network (including roadway, transit, and bike/ped) that provides access to the downtown Jersey City area, as well as in the multi-modal transportation network within downtown Jersey City.

Please view the Public Meeting Flier and distribute to anyone who may be interested in attending.