In what Mayor Anthony Russo called a “pretty extensive first step” toward better local traffic, Boswell Engineering of Hackensack presented the first phase of their Traffic Circulation Feasibility Study to the Hoboken Parking Authority and the City Council last week. The study contains five recommended alternatives to enhance the roadway network and to improve traffic flow on Hoboken’s northern boundary. The full study will be available to the public Monday or Tuesday of this upcoming week.
The study
The 45-page study, complete with photographs, diagrams and appendices, was prepared by Boswell with the assistance of the city’s director of human services, Robert Drasheff. The study, as pointed out by HPA Chairman Donald Pellicano at the HPA meeting last Tuesday, will be paid for in full by the HPA, and no taxpayer funds will be spent on it.
The introduction of the study describes Hoboken as a town “in the midst of major urban renewal” and says in order to accommodate this development, the city is considering several new infrastructure improvements. The primary goal of the first phase of the study, according to the study, is to identify the primary points of congestion at the city’s northern gateways and interior. The northern quadrant was chosen because recently it has been the subject of a redevelopment plan permit to support a substantial increase in both residential and commercial development. The study states that this area is the largest remaining area of the city capable of producing a large-scale project; thus it was deemed the appropriate time to “project its potential impact on the rest of the city.”
Three phrases
According to Drasheff’s presentation at the HPA meeting and the literature in the study, the final traffic survey will proceed in three stages. Because of its size and complexity, the project would be completed more effectively if it were done in phases and not in a single presentation. Drasheff added Thursday in an interview that proceeding in phases makes obtaining the funding for the project much easier.
The first phase includes the northern quadrant of the city: Seventh Street north to the city’s northwest boundary, and east to Hudson Street.
Phase two will include the entire waterfront including the interior of the city as far west as Garden Street. The third phase will include the southern Observer Highway corridor including the southern gateways with the northern extent being Seventh Street.
Proposed alternatives
The study suggests five alternatives to help alleviate traffic in the northeast quadrant. Drasheff stressed in his presentation that these are not set in stone and are only possible options, and all or none of these could be used in the final plan.
The first alternative is a west side bypass, which would be a new two-lane, two-way roadway to connect Harbor Boulevard in Weehawken to Madison Street at 15th Street. The road would then run under the Park and Willow avenue bridges and would run around the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Train alignment (HBLRT). The benefit of this plan would be that it provides an alternative means of access to the northern end of the city, thereby reducing the amount of traffic on Park and Willow avenues.
The drawback of this option is that the city does not own the right-of-way. Costs to obtain that right could reach $6 million.
The design and construction of the bypass could cost $600,000.
This option also would include a 17th Street, Clinton Street and Harbor Boulevard connector, which would cost $1million and $100,000 for right-of-way costs. The study concluded that the traffic benefit would be “very good” but that the ability to implement it was poor.
Number two The second option presented is the re-striping of 14th Street. The study claims that because of the increased cross-city traffic flow from development and improvements, 14th Street should be re-striped to allow for two lanes for the entire portion of road from Washington Street to Willow Avenue. Approximately 16 metered parking spaces would be removed, and the road would be resurfaced and re-striped for a clear view of the new and existing markings. The cost of this project would be $325,000 to design and implement. The third alternative is the widening of 15th Street. This would improve east-west circulation. The cost of this project would run $225,000. The fourth alternative would be the extension of Garden Street to 14th and 15th streets. At a cost of $520,000 the extension would create a new entrance from Weehawken and exit from Hoboken.
The final construction alternative presented was the Clinton Street at-grade crossing. Clinton Street presently ends at the HBLRT alignment. This alternative consists of constructing an at-grade railroad crossing and would allow motorists to cross the railroad right of way at Clinton Street on the Hoboken side to the St. Laurence Place in Weehawken. The cost of this option would run around $400,000.
If all of the alternatives were approved and completed at cost, the total of the designing and building costs plus the right-of-way costs and $100,000 for traffic light coordination would equal $9.17 million.
Point counterpoint
“This is the first administration to deal with traffic and long range capital improvements,” said Mayor Russo from his office last Thursday. He believes that, if implemented, the study would “definitely” improve traffic and would eliminate much of the bottlenecking that occurs on the north end of town.
He is also proud of the communication line that the city has opened with the county government, and pointed out that the city has already secured a commitment of $325,000 in discretionary funds from the county.
“Because of its role in New Jersey’s multi-modal transportation system, Hoboken is always going to have traffic and parking challenges,” Russo said. “Being in between the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and having the PATH and NJ Transit railroads in the city means that there are going to be large numbers of people that don’t live here traveling through here every single day.”
But not everyone is completely sold on this new study.
Mayoral Candidate Dave Roberts feels like there are several problems with the study as it stands now. “First of all, I find the timing of this study very suspicious,” said Roberts from his Washington Street campaign headquarters last Thursday. “This administration has been in office for over 2,600 days but waits till 72 days before the election to produce a traffic study.”
Russo denied any connection between the dates of the release of the study and the upcoming election. “We are doing things all the time,” said Russo. “This is about government and not politics. There’s been dialogue about doing this for over a year and a half.”
Roberts also charged that the plans, as presented, will make it easier for even more traffic to come into Hoboken and will only spread cars onto different streets, especially those in the 3rd and 4th Wards.
Mayor Russo denied that the road improvements would bring more traffic into the city. He said that their most visible effect would be to eliminate much of the bottlenecking that occurs on the Park and Willow avenue bridges, which will benefit Hoboken residents leaving Hoboken.