Lets not forget that our former Mayor McDrunky had a house in Bradley Beach and thus totally approached traffic problems with his commute in mind. Also, I would like to see the permit parking enforced 24 hours a day. I have a neighbor who has a large pick-up truck with out of state plates. He has no parking permit but because he uses it to commute he is gone all day and then home when permits are not enforced. So he isn't registered in NJ, doesn't have NJ insurance and doesn't have a JC parking permit but is allowed to park his giant vehicle and take up extra parking. That's BS in my book.

Jersey ave is right on the boundary of Ward E and F. So, the
east side is ward E and the west side is F?

For those of you saying we should ask our own council person to take care of Jersey Ave ...

Plenty of ward E residents use Jersey Ave to get to Liberty State Park, so technically you could even consider it an entrance to a park, which seems to be a special designation in Ms Osborne's plan.

Just last week someone was hit by a car on the corner of Jersey and Grand.

There are no stop signs or traffic lights between Grand and Montgomery, so cars and buses are often speeding down Jersey, which often surprise me just as I am crossing Grand.

I doubt Diane Coleman (ward F) will do anything for our small downtown section, without the rest of her ward complaining of special downtown treatment. I think the rest of ward F is more car oriented, I rarely see people walking around, the way i see people do here in downtown.

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Why not?

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I swear C.Columbus use to be easier to cross since the lights were not green for so long. From what I heard, C. Columbus was repaired with monies that made it an evacuation route and alternative to the helix to the Holland, this created the stop light issue. Are we saying we saying she is trying to reverse this? If so great, but what about the federal dollar issue.

There's no question that the harder JC makes it for suburban commuters to "cut through" the better off it becomes for actual JC residents.

Bloomberg has taken away traffic lanes on very busy streets and NYC is doing just fine. It always amazes me how JC politicians of the past allowed the city to become a doormat for aggressive commuters who aren't paying taxes or tolls in JC...

Sounds like good idea. I have been almost hit before by speeding motorists. and while she's at it, they should focus on getting the Port Authority to ENFORCE/ticket motorists who violate rules around the Holland Tunnel, such as blocking the box.

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Ditto . I love what Bloomberg did with pedestrian malls/plazas on streets. I agree. we should do the same here. Including around Hamilton and VVP park

JCNewJersey, that's a great idea, so write your respective councilperson and tell them to get on the ball and make it happen.

Candice actually showed initiative and put forth a comprehensive plan (a platform she ran on - isn't that nice to see a politician actually follow through?). There's nothing stopping your ward council person from doing the same. But it's incumbent on you to do more than complain on JC list and actually get involved and MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Are you a member of your neighborhood association?
Do you participate?
Do you write your local ward person?

There's no "special budget" from what I've seen. There's just a budget. You're implying Ward E is getting special treatment.

Like I said, it's initiative. Get involved. Make your Ward councilperson earn that paycheck. Hound them. Get others to hound them.

Don't stop until you get a definitive response.

I am curious how these changes get paid for. If Ward E gets these and not Ward C etc, does Ward E have its own special budget to pay for it? Shouldn't the City look at this as whole and not just one Ward?

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You should address your issue with the Ward F council person let ward F get in on the act as well. And if you got no where with the Ward F council person seek out your at-large council represenitives. I'm sure Candice has her plate full with her ward alone.

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The folks on Barrow, between Newark and Columbus, might not be too keen on this plan.

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+1

I think there was a plan at one time to have a pedestrian plaza from Jersey Ave to Grove on Newark.

I'd like to see that, plus pedestrian-only areas in front of schools on local streets, like outside Cordero on Erie, McNair on Coles, Resurrection on Brunswick, St Anthony's or Mets on Manila, St Anthony's Church on Monmouth.

Why not just make Newark ave between Grove and Erie a pedestrian plaza, like how Times square has been ( or will be).

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I agree, but lets start by slowing down the 2 ton deadly weapons out there.

Speed Humps are fine. Speed bumps and rumble-strips are a disaster. I don't go a day in DTJC without seeing at least 10 very dangerous, inconsiderate drivers.

Osbornes plan is a great start, I'm definitely behind it. It's important to note that pedestrians aren't excluded from the overall assessment of the problem. While I agree cars drive crazy etc etc, pedestrians in downtown have little to no sense when it comes to following rules that pertain to them.

It goes both ways.

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So most likely the speed humps (the only thing guaranteed to slow traffic) will be killed by these buffoons with the same old nonsense about ambulances and damage to houses.

Robin.

This is great! So excited that something is finally being done to make it safer for the pedestrians around here.

SO happy to see a plan for humps on the Erie Street speedway.

I know its now technically Ward F, but please make sure you address Jersey Ave. between Grand & Columbus. Blvd. I couldn't tell to what extent, if any, that piece of roadway was in your plan. I've been complaining about it for years.

This stretch of Jersey Ave. is a crucial piece of what has become the "Downtown Speedway" for drivers cutting through DTJC to get to the Holland tunnel & waterfront. Its an incredibly dangerous 4-6 blocks. Without fully integrating this piece of roadway into the solutions you hope to enact, it will only push worse driving to this stretch of road while those drivers try to avoid the places you focus the fix on.

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Candice - Can you check into Union City's experience with lit stop signs like these: http://www.xwalk.com/pages/TS40-R1-1-Stop.htm

They have some around Washington Park on Palisade - and really stand out. Seems like a good idea - particularly near our parks and schools.

Great start. Keep going!

Hi everyone -

Here is a link to the recommendations. These recommendations will be vetted with the traffic and engineering departments next week. It surely is not perfect, but I wanted to start somewhere.

We will measure the results, we won't just place things out there and hope for the best. As a part of phase 2 analysis, we will look at those results and the community feedback and do a "start/stop/continue".

http://www.slideshare.net/candiceosbo ... recommendationswardefinal

Best,
Candice

This is definitely a step in the right direction.

I hope they are serious about ticket writing, drivers are extremely obnoxious because historically there have been no tickets.

I'd love to see tighter parking enforcement too. Sight lines are tough when turning if you have a SUV with blacked out windows parked right at the intersection....

http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_s ... nce=jersey_city_top_story

Walk this way
Osborne to introduce broad proposal to improve pedestrian safety downtown
by E. Assata Wright


If there is one thing that pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists can all agree on it?s this: the congested streets of Jersey City have become battle grounds as cars, feet, and bike wheels compete for limited space as everybody tries to go about their daily tasks.

Cyclists complain about drivers who hog road lanes and crowd them up against parked cars and curbs. Pedestrians complain about drivers who won?t yield and speeding bikers who cycle as if traffic laws don?t apply to them. And drivers have a whole list of complaints about jaywalkers and absentminded pedestrians who seem too busy texting to pay attention to walk signals and right of way laws.

While residents jokingly referred to local streets as racetracks, a number of serious accidents in recent months are a reminder that pedestrian and cyclist safety is a serious issue.

In April, a man was seriously injured after being hit by a car at Monmouth and Second streets. Later that same month, an off-duty police officer allegedly struck and killed pedestrian Stephen Clifford as he tried crossing Fairmount Avenue (an investigation is ongoing). In June, Natasha Caicedo was hit and killed by a motorist as she rode her bike on Marin Boulevard. More recently, a little boy was hit by a car on 8th Street near Hamilton Park.

To address the problem, Ward E City Councilwoman Candice Osborne has developed a proposal to increase pedestrian safety in her downtown ward. While her recommendations are specific to the ward she represents, she said she has shared her proposal with her City Council colleagues who represent other parts of the city.

Her proposal has also been shared with the administration of Mayor Steven Fulop and various board members from the downtown neighborhood associations, who helped Osborne collect some of the anecdotal data used in her proposal.

Osborne: ?We have an obligation?

Osborne admitted that some parts of her traffic calming proposal ? which calls for the creation of bump outs, new traffic lights, de-synchronized traffic lights, improved street lighting, painted crosswalk lines, and a ticket writing campaign by the police ? might not be popular with drivers. But, she said, ?As a city, we have an obligation to proactively pursue policies that make residents feel safe, whether walking, biking, or driving.?

Osborne, who took office on July 1, said pedestrian safety has emerged as a top concern among her constituents.

?I was already working on this plan. But complaints about pedestrian safety and the need for traffic calming have been coming in steadily since I took office,? she said. ?I?m getting, like, 10 complaints a day at this point.?
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?I?ve had a few close encounters with cars.? ? Barry Critafoli
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To get a sense of the scope of the problem, Osborne met with board members from the six downtown neighborhood associations and did her own neighborhood patrol with her City Council aide to map out intersections that may be in need of crosswalk markings, all-way stop signs, traffic lights, better signage, or other traffic controlling tools.

Based on this research, Osborne is now recommending an array of solutions throughout Ward E.

Among other solutions, she is recommending the end of right turn on red at several intersections, mostly along Grand Street, where traffic can often top 50 miles per hour. Among the intersections where right turns would be banned during red lights are Grand Street and Grove Street; Grand and Jersey Avenue; Grand and Van Vorst, and Grand and Washington Boulevard.

Under Osborne?s plan low grade speed humps would be installed on what she called, ?our worst speed streets: Erie Street, Monmouth Street, Manila Avenue, Brunswick Street, and parts of Washington and Van Vorst.?

One suggestion that might win broad support from drivers and pedestrians alike is Osborne?s recommendation that the city create an all-walk traffic light sequence at Columbus Drive and Grove Street, an intersection where pedestrians often jaywalk and cross against the light. She would also like to lengthen the amount of time people have to cross the street along Marin Boulevard, a street that cuts through several large shopping areas.

Under her proposal, 21 intersections would get all-way stop signs and four ?Second Street and Marin Boulevard, Van Vorst and Grand Streets, and Newark Avenue and Division Street ? would get new traffic lights.

There are a number of intersections that currently have yellow ?yield to pedestrians? signs posted along sidewalks. Osborne would like to see these signs replaced with triangular ?stop for pedestrians? signs that sit in the middle of crosswalks. While Jersey City has a few of these signs, they are more commonly used in Hoboken.

?Evidence shows that these in-crosswalk signs are 35 to 46 percent more effective that the signs by the side of the road,? said Osborne.

This evidence, she said, comes from the Pedestrian Safety Countermeasure Deployment Project, which was done by the Federal Highway Administration.

(Interestingly, a recent anecdotal study of a few intersections in Hoboken where there are signs in the middle of the street showed that a majority of drivers did not yield to pedestrians.)

Still, Osborne would like to see in-crosswalk signs installed at 86 intersections downtown.

?I wanted to get to the root issues [of the problem] as quickly as possible,? Osborne said, although some of her recommendations, if adopted by the city, will be implemented over a period of several months.

According to Joe Dee, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT), Jersey City can likely make most of these changes without state approval.

?There was a law enacted in Dec. 2008 that repealed certain sections of a [previous law] requiring approval of the DOT commissioner,? Dee said. ?The purpose of the repeal was to make it easier for municipalities to enact local laws that make the most sense for their residents? There are a few exceptions where state approval is still needed. Jersey City can make changes so long as the location where the change is taking place is not within 500 feet of a state road. If it?s within 500 feet of a state road, then state approval is still needed. Another exception has to do with commercial traffic. Any proposed changes that attempt to restrict commercial motor vehicles ? meaning trucks ? still needs to be approved by the state.?

Fulop, who represented Ward E before being elected mayor, has seen Osborne?s proposal and said he supports it.

?It is impressive and important the work on traffic calming that Candice completed with the community,? Fulop said. ?We are going to start this month on implementing the plan so it is the residents who own the streets ? not the vehicles.?

Residents respond

At press time last week, only a few residents had seen the plan, although Osborne plans to post it to her website soon to get broader feedback from the public.

When told of the plan, however, several Ward E residents and people who work downtown said they support its intent, even though they weren?t aware of any specifics.

?I live on Grove Street and take the PATH a lot,? said Lily Martin. ?I have a car, but I seldom use it. It stays parked most of the time. I walk a lot for the things I have to do. Drivers will see you standing at a corner, see that you have the right of way, and keep going anyway. It?s really frustrating.?

Martin said she feels particularly vulnerable when crossing streets when drivers are making turns.

Barry Cristafoli, a Jersey City Heights resident who walks downtown frequently, said, ?I?ve had a few close encounters with cars. Grand Street is dangerous. Washington Boulevard is bad. Parts of Grove Street are dangerous. So, anything that can be done to improve street safety for people is something I would support. I would just hope that whatever they do here [downtown] is duplicated elsewhere in the city, because I feel just as unsafe on Central Avenue as I do on Grand Street.?

Ellie Smalls, Cristafoli?s wife, agreed. ?Drivers seem to be a little more cautious when I?m with my toddler. When I have my daughter with me, a driver will yield to me and I don?t feel rushed to cross. But if I don?t have her with me, forget it. I used to try to ride my bike [downtown] to do my grocery shopping. Now I just drive, because I don?t feel safe, either on my bike or when I?m walking.?

Smalls described Newark Avenue as ?an Indie 500 track.? Similar analogies were made about other streets by others who were interviewed last week.

While most of the feedback to Osborne?s proposal was positive, a few drivers argued that pedestrians have to do their part to be safe on the streets, too.

?I?m on foot a lot, too. So, I am sensitive to complaints about dangerous drivers. But I see just as much ?bad walking,? if I can use that term, as bad driving,? said Mary Bentley. ?When the signal says ?Don?t Walk,? why does everybody walk? When a light is clearly green, why is there always some pedestrian who is determined to race across the street anyway? I know New York City at one time gave jaywalking tickets. If they are going to crack down on drivers and implement traffic calming laws on drivers, I want to see something done about ?bad walking,? too.?

Bentley and Martin both said that more also needs to be done to discourage pedestrians from texting and talking on the phone when they should be paying attention to traffic and traffic signals.

E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.