Dear Editor:
Hats off to the Hoboken police department. They’ve done a great job alleviating most of the traffic at the intersection from hell, i.e. corner of Monroe Street and Observer Highway.
For several years, we’ve had to endure blaring horns, speeding drivers or traffic stacked up in all directions. Every morning and evening, traffic on Monroe Street backs up to 2nd Street, Eastward on Observer up to Clinton Street and Westward on Paterson Avenue up to and beyond the railroad tracks. One morning my wife timed herself and it took her 13 minutes to drive from our house (which is the fourth house from the corner) to the intersection. In the evenings gridlock and horn blowing has become our dinnertime serenade.
I’ve written about this issue on several occasions in the past and most recently just prior to the last council election. You would think that with a councilman living right over the intersection in the Skyline something would have been done long before this. Where are our No Horn Blowing signs? How about a sign that says No Right Turns Onto Monroe Street Against Traffic So Skyliners Can Get Into Their Garage Quickly?
It took the police department a while experimenting with different patterns and it seems that the traffic is flowing much better and the horn blowing has somewhat diminished. Great job HPD.
To those who would blame this situation development I say donkey dust. The majority of new people living in Hoboken use public transportation to and from work and rarely move their cars.
I’m not naive enough to think that construction and excavations and deliveries don’t obstruct traffic and sometimes cause delays, but it not the cause of the daily nightmare, which I’ve previously described.
Not many of these drivers, if any, are looking for parking spaces nor are they Hobokenites going to or coming home from work. (Check the parking stickers). The majority of these vehicles are simply exiting Hoboken on their way to the Holland Tunnel, the NJ Turnpike or other roadways that originate in downtown J.C. At times I’ve counted over a 100 Newark Airport taxicabs on their way back to Newark Airport.
Do you really think that they’re all dropping off Hoboken residents? I would suggest that the majority of cabs are coming through from the northern end of town and using Hoboken as a short cut.
Whether or not you agree with Mayor Russo on his position to divert this traffic, you must agree that this is in fact commuter traffic using Hoboken as a thoroughfare. The mere threat of a traffic diversion cleared up traffic for nearly a week.
In closing I’d like to comment on some of the print media of the past weeks. We’ve heard mention of going back to the old Hoboken, do you mean the old stagnant Hoboken of eight to 10 years ago when nothing was accomplished and everything died in committees, or do you mean the Hoboken of decay, misery and corruption with slumlords abound and burning tenement houses being the order of the day.
Do you really remember the services provided by Hoboken in prior years? Can you recall cleaner streets, better snow removal, more beautifully maintained parks or safer streets? I can’t. Can you ever recall any attempt at extensive sewer repairs and cleaning? I can’t. How many communities have added parks or would even consider dog runs?
I’ve lived here my whole life and during those 50 years I’ve seen many changes but never has Hoboken been so vibrant and so alive. Never has Hoboken enjoyed such celebrity. I bet even Frank Sinatra would now happily admit to having been from Hoboken.
Frank Gullo