New bikes lanes and a road diet are almost complete on Irvine Turner Blvd in Newark south of West Market St. These bike lanes are conventional, well designed and provide the first usable north / south route for the less than bold and fearless bicyclists wishing to travel from University Heights and the Downtown to the Weequahic section of Newark and towns to the south. The finishing touches are not done yet but the lanes are already very useful for even this bold but not exactly fearless bicyclist (I rode them yesterday. So much better!).
Irvine Turner was a designated permanent on-street route for the East Coast Greenway years ago and route signs have been in place on the street for several years. This is a great example of how a route designation by the East Coast Greenway has been the catalyst for bicycle (and pedestrian) amenity construction. Hopefully here in Newark, the likely success of this bike lane and road diet will prove to local leaders of the viability of the road diet / bike lane combo. This simple and well proven street design could be reproduced on at least a half dozen major streets in the city, if not more. And is Essex County there are at least a dozen more potential applications for this facility design.
Also, construction should begin very soon on a revamp of Broadway that will include some interesting innovations new to New Jersey.
Go Newark!!
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