Hoboken and Hudson County officials hosted a virtual public meeting to present proposed safety improvements along Willow Avenue, part of Hoboken’s Vision Zero initiative, where several elected officials voiced opposition to bike lanes.
By Joe Murray Hudson County View
“This is literally a matter of life and death … We want to ensure Willow Avenue is a safe road for everyone who uses it,” said Mayor Ravi Bhalla, emphasizing the city’s commitment to reducing traffic conflicts and enhancing safety for all users of the roadway.
Steve Weber, Hoboken’s Director of Transportation and Parking, called the meeting “the culmination of the extensive outreach that we’ve been doing as part of this project.”
The proposed redesign aligns with Hoboken’s Complete Streets policy and seeks to create a safer and more efficient corridor, he added.
Hudson County Director of Transportation confirmed the county’s role in the initiative, clarifying that Willow Avenue is a county road.
Brad Miller, of Michael Baker International, the firm leading the design, explained the scope of the project, which will span Willow Avenue from 11th Street to 16th Street.
Key areas along the corridor include Wallace Elementary School, Fox Hills Gardens Senior Housing, and Trader Joe’s. Miller noted the corridor is identified as a “high crash segment” in the Hoboken Vision Zero Action Plan.
Miller also stated that Hoboken was awarded $1.39 million toward construction through the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s (NJ DOT) Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program.
While this amount will help fund the project, he noted the total construction cost will be finalized after the design phase.
Proposed safety improvements include curb extensions and pedestrian refuge islands to shorten crossing distances and increase visibility.
Traffic signal upgrades will introduce Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs), giving pedestrians a head start before vehicle traffic receives a green light.
One of the main points of discussion was a proposed protected bike lane in front of Wallace Elementary School, with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Johnson coming out against the idea.
She cited concerns about past vehicle incidents on the sidewalk and challenges securing a crossing guard, adding, “How will children get across the bike lane without being struck?”
“Buffering it with parking is irresponsible … Who’s going to enforce the speed of these bikes in front of the school?”
Johnson also came out against the 12th Street bike lane as well, adding “Who’s going to enforce the speed of these bikes in front of the school?”
Weber acknowledged the feedback and responded, “We agree that this should not be a bicycle highway.”
1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano and 2nd Ward Tiffanie Fisher backed the superintendent’s position, with Presinzano indicating that he will “back the leadership that makes the decisions on the safety of the children.”
He said the city would consider measures “up to and including having bicyclists dismount during dismissal and entry” to ensure student safety.
Hoboken Transportation Engineer Greg Francese added that speed humps are not permitted on roadways like Willow Avenue due to state regulations for high-traffic corridors.
Bus stop spacing also drew comments from attendees. One commuter questioned why two NJ Transit southbound 126 buses stop at 15th and Willow, noting it slows traffic.
Another attendee suggested creating a new stop at 13th Street to avoid long gaps. Miller noted that NJ Transit would need to approve any changes.
Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour underscored the project’s urgency.
“The purpose of this project is because the existing conditions are dangerous already, protected bike lanes can allow our kids to get to school safely.”
The project is currently in its preliminary engineering phase.
Final design is expected to begin this winter, with construction scheduled to start in 2028 and be completed by 2029.
Public comments will be accepted online at hobokenwillowave.com through Friday, July 25th.
There were several parents in favor of protected bike lanes at the meeting who couldn’t speak. We raised our hands to speak. But Councilpeople Fischer and Presinzano took over the meeting, jumping ahead of others to express their grievances and give airtime to the speakers they’d brought. It was a take-over. Our elected officials have plenty of opportunity to influence decisions. This was the community’s precious space, and our voices should be respected.
Here we go, some Bike looney tune now blames Fisher and Presinzano…
Funny what an Endorsement from Craig Guy and Brian SleazeStack of the CORRUPT HCDO towards Emily Jabbour can do to build trust in one of their shit traffic plans.
* Craig Guy and Brian SleazeStack
Not so long ago the SAME Bike “advocates” were blasting Corrupt HCDO traffic studies along the viaduct to Paterson Plank as well as
Of course only Anti Car Emily was on the side of the narrowing of Willow- not Dr Johnson who spoke truth to power.
Well, If Dr J and Tiffany Fisher are aligned on opposing a plan you know it must be REALLY a bad plan
That’s not what happened. Paul and Fischer spoke very little and mainly just made sure the Principal of Wallace and Supertiendnet of the schools could speak. They were not allowed to and probably are the most important. It felt like the city and planners didn’t want any input other than those who support this plan. Jabbour was actually the one council person who spoke the longest and gave her support for the bike lanes.
It has been my experience it is the one issue Bike organizations that take-over these sort of meetings and bully everyone who disagrees with their intractable positions.
The thousand or so new apartments and businesses that are being planed in NW Hoboken along Willow Ave
that will further exacerbate an already very dangerous roadway.
Hoboken has be notoriously poor in planing and addressing traffic patterns ad problems in an already crowded Old City layout.
Precisely why we need more bike lanes, to give people other ways to get around. Cars don’t cut it, they take up too much space for such a dense area.
Are we still listening to the Hoboken Ex Pat Chris from Bike Hoboken?
She fled to California so can we just stop paying attention to her, stop paying Ian Saks and stop paying Ryan Sharp?
Ms Chris was able to deliver her one issue bike members to Bhalla’s slate especially during the low turnout primaries.
She was more of a useful political tool than someone who actually reflect the will of the overall community..
She was right about the school’s bike bus ban and she’s right about this.
Emily must be turning red…
The idea a bike land on 12th street is “dangerous” to the students is pretty weird. The cars on Willow Avenue are the obvious threat to everyone in that vicinity.
Hoboken is overdeveloped and remains a top target for big developers. So no worries, this town will be smog-filled place like Manhattan with traffic crawling more hours of each and every day.
Most of the Hoboken mayoral candidates are not only ready but eager to sell out this town to big developers and gut this town. Michael Russo is leading them with the Big Developer money and some people think this criminal is the answer. 🤡