Dear Editor:
The business district of Hoboken is Washington Street. For pedestrians who walk and/or use the bus, shopping is easy. Although many useful retailers have closed along the main drag, we still have one hardware store, drug stores, realtors, and restaurants to serve us. Some of these businesses depend upon trucks to deliver their merchandise. This means delivery trucks come to Washington Street to park and load/unload goods to the businesses.
In the proposed Washington Street re-design presented at the Oct. 8 City Council meeting, loading/unloading goods along the street becomes problematic because a bike track takes up space on the west side and curb extensions at the intersections take up space that delivery trucks would sometimes use instead of double parking.
How is this problem solved of parking trucks on Washington Street? Well, the re-design suggests adding “commercial parking only” loading zones to accommodate loading activity without having to double park. Before 2 p.m., these zones would be designated for commercial parking, and would later revert back to 30 minute metered parking. The re-design concept of possibly charging for commercial unloading to encourage turnover would not sit well with the businesses.
These loading/unloading zones do not benefit pedestrian safety. The problem with the zones is that the trucks will have to drive into and out of Hoboken between 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. when loading/unloading would be allowed. Since most people go to work or take children to schools during these morning hours, Washington Street would be very crowded at this peak time with trucks. Deliveries in the afternoon are best because the trucks could move easier without the morning commuters.
There would be 32 designated loading zones, two for each block, at opposite ends of the block. This would frequently result in large vehicles parked opposite buses unloading near the intersections, and since the traffic lanes will be narrowed near the intersections (by bike lanes and curb extensions), the traffic lanes will become dangerously clogged, slowing traffic and increasing the danger of collisions. The re-design consultants reported that deliveries primarily occur between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Their report notes: “At approximately 11 a.m., 17 deliveries were observed to be taking place in various areas on Washington Street, with up to four on any given block. A total of five blocks had 3-4 simultaneous deliveries during observations.” How can all these deliveries be restricted to the ends of the block and limited to two at a time when more than two deliveries are occurring on the busy blocks? Will trucks need to make appointments with the city to find a time slot?
Continuing real estate development is increasing the volume of automobiles on our streets leading to more frequent traffic congestion. Future developments, such as the NJ Transit project downtown (which will narrow Observer Highway to only two lanes to accommodate parallel parking, bikes, and pedestrians) and the Monarch project uptown, are located at the only two points of entry into Hoboken, so keeping Washington Street moving is essential.
Mary Ondrejka