The City of Hoboken and City of Jersey City have announced their first protected bike lane connecting the two neighboring cities along Marin Boulevard and Henderson Street.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The new bike lane connects 18th Street in Jersey City to Observer Highway in Hoboken.
The connection is the latest Vision Zero initiative to create safer streets and eliminate traffic deaths and injuries in both cities.
“Jersey City and Hoboken are among the most unique and busiest transportation hubs in the country, and this new bikeway linking our two cities is the latest step in expanding Jersey City’s growing network of protected bikeways to provide greater connectivity and safety for our residents and beyond,” Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said in a statement.
“We are proud to work with Hoboken, Commissioner Romano, and Hudson County Executive DeGise to find innovative approaches that provide countless new opportunities for the entire community from education and employment to healthcare and economic stimulus.”
The new protected bikeway, created with a new high-visibility traffic separator curb, flexible bollards, and Endurablend surface to provide high visibility and traction, will yield a safe, and accessible option for bicycle riders who travel between Jersey City and Hoboken daily.
This will allow commuters to reach major public transportation hubs, places of employment, as well as shopping and dining destinations.
“Hoboken is committed to creating safer streets for all modes of transportation, and this protected bikeway is the latest example of that,” added Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
“We are proud to work hand-in-hand with Jersey City to better protect bicycle riders as they travel between our cities, and work toward our respective Vision Zero goals to eliminate traffic deaths and injuries. Thank you to Mayor Fulop, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, and Commissioner Anthony Romano for collaborating on this much needed connection.”
The connection is the latest step both municipalities have taken to make it easier for residents to choose more environmentally friendly modes of transportation in furtherance of both cities’ climate action plans.
In May of last year, Jersey City and Hoboken partnered to launch a unified bike share system with Lyft’s Citi Bike to provide better connectivity between the two communities.
Since the partnership launched in 2021, users have taken over 180,329 rides between both cities, accounting for 13 percent of total ridership, officials said this afternoon.
“Creating protected bike lanes is a proven way to keep people safe and to reduce traffic violence, especially for people who set out on foot, on transit, on Citi Bike––or all three. The Marin Boulevard redesign in Jersey City and Hoboken will make this stretch of road safer for cyclists of all ages and abilities,” General Manager of Citi Bike at Lyft Laura Fox noted.
In addition to the protected bikeway, the project also incorporates improvements for pedestrians and drivers including the repainting of high-visibility crosswalks, as well as new extended turn lanes onto Newark Street and Observer Highway in Hoboken.
The extended turning lanes will increase queuing capacity along Marin Boulevard and Henderson Street when entering Hoboken, which is expected to provide a small improvement in traffic flow.
“We applaud Hoboken, Jersey City, and Hudson County for installing this much needed protected bike lane to connect our cities. This vital corridor is used by hundreds of people on bicycles every day and is now poised to see a huge increase in those numbers,” noted Bike Hoboken President Chris Adair.
“For years, cyclists traveling between Jersey City and Hoboken faced dangerous and intimidating roadway conditions to reach their destinations. The new protected bike lane on Marin Boulevard provides a long overdue safe connection between the growing bike lane networks of our neighboring cities,” stated Bike JC President Ayla Schermer.
These Vision Zero improvements seek to remove the corridor from Hoboken’s and Jersey City’s High Crash Networks as identified in each respective city’s Vision Zero Action Plans.
