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Why not just ride a flying unicorn to Manhattan instead?

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They need to just make downtown's Holland Tunnel entrance for Jersey City Residents only! (with valid JC Stickers)

They could also save on labor costs and make that Holland tunnel lane just an easy pass only lane - maybe even tie it to needing to be a Jersey City address or drivers will be fined!

Port Authority also really needs to enforce the no right turns into the tunnel from all the other downtown Jersey City streets as well.

Clearly if this was Hoboken this would not happen!

There are a few alternatives. Instituting the ban on single occupancy vehicles that existed between 2001 and about 2004 would greatly reduce the number of cars entering the tunnel (and coincidentally, ease traffic on the northbound turnpike where traffic exiting at 14ABC backs up).

Or alternately, increase the toll of the tunnel until demand matches capacity.

If only someone had proposed a user fee based system to reduce vehicle congestion in Manhattan while using the collected fees to augment mass transit...

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see how this new exit helps at all.

The basic problem I see is that at the end of all these massive new highways that have been built in the past 50 years is a 1930's 2 lane tunnel to NYC. Having 8 lanes feeding into 2 lanes is a perfect recipe for traffic jam.

If drivers are currently getting off at 14B to drive 2 miles through downtown, I am sure they will get off at this new exit and circle around the mall and right through Hamilton Park to wait in traffic to get into the tunnel.

There are two options, increase the number of lanes of the actual tunnel, or DECREASE the number of lanes feeding into it. I vote for the latter.

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I have never seen that as I never drive to NYC during rush hours. Good to know. I guess that idea failed.

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Actually, one possible idea is ENFORCING the existing "No Turns" from Erie. The signs that on off hours post "No Turn On Red" are "No Turn" signs during rush hours.

One possible idea is to not allow right turns from Erie Street into the tunnel from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. Commuters using Erie would have to circle the block making it less convenient.

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Or put a toll there, except for people living downtown.

It's a trade off. Easy access to the tunnel for local residents means easy access for everyone who wants to cut through the town. Alternately we could take away the exit ramps that make it easy to get into the downtown, but then its harder to get downtown too.

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The best way to cure brain cancer is by shooting yourself in the head.

You know how you would prevent cars from "cutting through" the downtown to get to the tunnel? Take away the downtown's entrance to the tunnel.

some missing information -

this project, the 11th Street viaduct is a medium term recommendation produced by the 2005 to 2007 Jersey City Regional Access and Downtown Circulation Study.

see- http://jerseycitynj.gov/hedc.aspx?id=2310

executive summary- http://jerseycitynj.gov/uploadedFiles ... ent/Department_of_Housing,_Economic_Development_and_Commerce/002%20exec%20summary%202007_07_12.pdf

I participated in this study as a stakeholder member of the steering committee representing the Harsimus Cove Assn. The only elected office who participated in this study was Ward A, councilman Mike Sottolano (I am endorsing his opponent, Rolando Lavarro in the Ward A runoff election). The mayor was represented by an HEDC staffer.

I strongly support the "Enhanced No Build" options which includes:

- aggressive signal optimization program and implement spot improvements to the selected intersections.

- bicycle and pedestrian improvement plans discussed in Chapter 5.

It is this study that exposed the the idea of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) atop the 6th Street Embankment and reopened the idea of the utilizing the Bergen Arches for the same.

Here are some of the study's conclusions-

- The traffic modeling does indicate that virtually all of the roadway concepts will have a detrimental effect on traffic flow on the local streets during the PM peak period. These concepts all have the effect of transferring vehicles from the regional routes to the local routes without adding major additional capacity to the local street system.

- Possible solutions to the potential gridlock scenario are the use of the parking management regulations to limit the demand into the study area, or the introduction of a congestion fee for vehicles that enter the study area during the morning peak period. (we were told that regardless of the improvements made, the study determined that our local street system will fail without parking management and congestion pricing).

CivicJC commented on the study results here -
http://civicjc.org/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=25

Unfortunately, the city-wide circulation study subsequently performed leaves much to be desired - http://www.jerseycitymobility2050.com/

what we should be doing in JC? look to NYC DOT's "Sustainable Streets" which includes defined and measurable goals for 2008 and beyond here -
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/stratplan.shtml

The road not yet ahead
Proposed NJ Turnpike extension may ease traffic going to Holland Tunnel

by Ricardo Kaulessar
Hudson Reporter

THE ROAD NOT YET AHEAD ? The 12th Street Viaduct in Jersey City, which leads into the Holland Tunnel for cars going into Manhattan, could see a companion road in a few years if the N.J. Turnpike builds a turnpike separator.

Ever driven to the Holland Tunnel only to get caught in a traffic backup?

If the answer is no, is that because your alternate route to the tunnel went through downtown Jersey City residential streets?

For years, residents and politicians have studied how to prevent the onslaught of cars from morning and afternoon rush hour speeding through neighborhoods, in order to cut down on potential accidents and traffic jams.

Downtown City Councilman Steven Fulop has tried to heed the complaints of his constituents on mitigating the increase of vehicles detouring past their homes.

He has also considered and pushed for various initiatives to take automobiles off those one-way streets.

One of the most significant ones he would like to see is a proposed N.J. Turnpike extension or traffic separator down 11th Street in downtown Jersey City linking to the ramp on Jersey Avenue to Newport and the waterfront. This separator would take traffic off the road going to the Holland Tunnel to ease congestion.

?Hopefully, we will have a report back from the Turnpike this summer,? Fulop said. ?In five years, we think they will build something that will benefit the residents.?

A Turnpike Authority spokesperson said last week he would look into any current reports on the separator, but did not return a call before press time.

But Fulop hopes that the Turnpike would consider moving the separator from the Hamilton Park area. The ramp on Jersey Avenue takes drivers off the 12th Street Viaduct to go to the Newport Mall and Sixth Street. Fulop hopes for an exit point further north to ensure that no traffic goes through that area.

A separate connection

The separator is one of many ideas that have been recommended to deal with the traffic going to and from the Holland Tunnel through local streets. Other ideas include changing the direction of the one-way roads every few blocks, stop signs at every intersection and speed bumps and strips.

The proposed Turnpike extension, known unofficially as Exit 14D, would cut down on delays that come from the daily amount of vehicles that transverse the Turnpike to the Holland Tunnel.

According to Turnpike Authority counts of traffic traveling that route daily to New York during rush hour in 2008, there were 20,300 cars Manhattan bound and 14,700 New Jersey bound (Jersey City waterfront and other local destinations). Also, the Turnpike Authority found in the same traffic counts that 3,400 Manhattan bound cars get off at the 14C ? Montgomery Street exit to make a nearly one-mile trip through Downtown as a ?back door? entry to the Holland Tunnel. And 13,600 cars exit at Montgomery Street to go to the waterfront and other nearby locales.

Addressing the increasing traffic into New York and to the downtown Jersey City waterfront is not a new development. Governor Thomas Kean in the 1980?s announced a transportation plan for more bus, car and rail options to unclog traffic going to the waterfront and to Manhattan.

The N.J. Turnpike Authority acquired rights in the 1980?s to undeveloped land over which the separator will be built.

The separator is also mentioned several times in the new Circulation Element of the city?s Master Plan.

Seeing the path of certain intentions

Interested in seeing the separator become a reality is Jamie LeFrak, one of the principals of the Newport Associates Development Company, the builders of Newport and other residential housing in downtown Jersey City:
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?But once that happens, it?s like that old adage, if you build it, they will come.? ? Tom Gibbons
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?From our perspective as the largest owner of homes in Hamilton Park (the Lincoln and Roosevelt apartment buildings), the separator would reduce the number of cars which use the Hamilton Park neighborhood as a back door to the Holland Tunnel and the Waterfront, thus reducing traffic impacts in a residential neighborhood which was never designed to handle the number of dangerous cars which pass through.?

Having mixed reactions about the Turnpike separator is Tom Gibbons, a Hamilton Park-area resident.

?I think for the short term it will alleviate the traffic because people going downtown will be able to get there quicker,? Gibbons said. ?But once that happens, it?s like that old adage, if you build it, they will come.?

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.