The Hoboken City Council will take a vote on a measure asking the Hudson County government to install a permanent bike lane on the 14th Street Viaduct at Wednesday evening’s meeting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Whereas, the City Council of the City of Hoboken seeks to express its support for the creation of a protected multi-use cycle path on the 14th Street Viaduct between Palisade Avenue and 19th Street, and asks that Hudson County and the municipalities of Hoboken, Union City, and Jersey City work together to take the steps necessary to make this happen,” the resolution says.
The local legislation, sponsored by Council President Emily Jabbour, 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, and Councilman-at-Large Joe Quintero, cites that support already exists on the municipal level.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, and state Senator (D-33)/Union City Mayor Brian Stack wrote letters in support of the endeavor late last year shortly after Hudson County Complete Streets began pushing for it.
“On August 16th, the county started removing the protected barriers as the sidewalk guardrail was completed. During the construction we surveyed hundreds of pedestrians and people on bikes using the protected lanes to safely move around,” the advocacy group wrote on their website last August.
“As seen during this Bike JC Community Ride, hundreds of people on bikes can safely ride up and down the viaduct. We will continue to push and advocate for a permanent protected cycling lane on the viaduct. Please continue to share the petition and thank you for all your effort thus far!”
On Tuesday afternoon, Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly said they are planning a road redesign that likely included a protected bike lane in both directions.
“The County is planning a redesign of the road network at this location that will better serve the needs of the community today. Part of that work will likely be a protected bike lane in both directions. There is no set timeline but funding for the planning work is being developed/sought now.”
The Hoboken council will convene on Wednesday at City Hall, 94 Washington St., at 7 p.m., with the meeting streaming live on their Facebook and YouTube pages.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly.
The Hoboken City council members should all sit in the spadeway gas station parking lot from 7: 00AM in the morning till 5: 30PM in the evening and see the traffic jam that’s there now. Putting a bike lane on the viaduct would cause a tremendous traffic jam backing up into Union City weehawken and Jersey City and back into Hoboken in each direction.
Have they clear the bike lane with Mayor Stack as we have all learned if he doesn’t OK it doesn’t get done no matter what ineffectual Hoboken politicos want or say.
Real important stuff to address while the city is complete collapse
Bike Lanes while Rome burns… ( Or rats rule )
When the County was designing the replacement 14th Street Viaduct this was considered and rejected by the County Engineer at the time. Reason, that’s a long downhill ride and if the bicyclist is not able to stop at Willow its going to be very tragic. The 8th Street HBLRT elevator is available for people to get their bikes to the top of the Palisades or down to Hoboken.
Question: How valid are the results of a poll taken of only bike riders during a bike advocates organized bike ride ?
Answer: Not at all.
As is always the case with single issue advocacy groups myopic conclusions are usually wrong for the community at large.
I’m all for alternate transportation choices. However, the law is the law. People who utilize bicycles, e-bikes, scooters and other types of transportation like these are subject to the same laws that automobiles are subjected to. The council should be voting on enforcing the laws that people operating bicycles, e-bikes, etc. apply to. Currently, these vehicles are allowed to go north on a south street, south on a north street, east on a west street and west on a east street. They fall to obey traffic lights, stop signs and stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. They even operate their vehicles on sidewalks! Enforcing the laws has two advantages, 1) it is required under the law, like automobiles and ensures the safety of the public and the operator of the vehicle; 2) enforcing the laws adds revenue to the city as a result of the tickets issued for violations. Enforcement officers could be hired that utilize e-bikes to patrol and enforce traffic laws. Or, the council should vote to allow every type of vehicle to operate their vehicle without any restrictions or requirements under the law. What’s it going to take? It seems that action is only taken when someone is killed or seriously injured before any action is taken to prevent a recurrence and that’s sad because one of the basic responsibilities of elected officials is to ensure the safety and health of all of the residents and visitors in our city.
This is Hoboken we got lots of laws and regulations on the books that were put there to try to justify the politicians paychecks but no one enforces them. Unless of course not enforcing them becomes an issue at election time.