Bike Ped Plans In Brigantine, Pleasantville and Atlantic City

While Governor Christie talks about the "new normal" for Ocean and Monmouth County beaches the old normal seems to the general condition of shore communities south of Little Egg Inlet. My brief visit to Atlantic City yesterday (away from the beach) confirmed that. I can also confirm that urban bicycling in AC is still a less than pleasant experience. I had plenty of company out there and the lack of accommodations has resulted in an improvised bike riding culture, with cyclists riding every way and place except on the street with the flow of traffic. On the pedestrian side the City is second to Newark in pedestrian crashes per capita.

But the City is doing something about it. NJ DOT in concert with the Casino Redevelopment Authority (CRDA) is wrapping up its bicycle and pedestrian plan and it will be making a final presentation to the public. The boldest proposal - a road diet and cycletracks on Atlantic Avenue, a heavy lift indeed. There is also a proposal for a two way cycletrack on wider and less busy Baltic Avenue which would hook in to a "24 Hour Loop" on the north end of the Boardwalk (which by chance happened to be the section that was conveniently wiped away by Sandy). Look for a public meeting to happen in late January, the plan will have to be approved by City Council although the City and the CRDA have already begun looking to fund some of the plans recommendations

Two of the City's neighbors are also taking advantage of NJ DOT's Local Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program with bike ped plans. Tomorrow Pleasantville will be holding a final public meeting tomorrow December 6th at the Pleasantville Library between 5:30 and 8:00 pm. The Library is located at 33 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, next to Pleasantville City Hall.

Finally Brigantine is in the early stages of developing its bicycle and pedestrian plan.  The first phase involves filling out this online survey. If you walk or bike in Brigantine and would like to see more improvements (the city already boasts some bike lanes) then please fill out this survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/brigantinebeach).

We cannot over emphasize the importance of the Local Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program. It is one of NJ DOT's most cost effective tools and has helped them earn a top 10 position in the Bicycle Friendly States program. One of the most difficult things to do these days is to ask a municipality to find tens of thousands of dollars and a reputable consultant to develop a plan to make it easier to walk or bike. If you look at a map of bike lanes in New Jersey you will find that about 80% are in communities that have adopted a plan. You won't find an official NJDOT page, although Googling will give you some access to previous applications. Contact NJ Bicycle and Pedestrian Office for more information

Bike / Ped investments critical as Hoboken PATH Station remains closed

News 12 New Jersey is reporting today that demand for bicycle parking at the Newport PATH Station has skyrocketed as the Hoboken PATH Station remains closed due to flood damage from Hurricane Sandy.  This is not surprising to us here at WalkBikeJersey.  With the opening of the Newport section of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway in 2009 the cities of Hoboken and Jersey City are connected for bicyclists and pedestrians like never before.  The Newport walkway has proven to be very popular with locals and exceptionally useful to commuters during normal circumstances.  In the Summer of 2011 the East Coast Greenway Alliance conducted trail counts and found that over 1,100 trips occurred on this section of the walkway between 4 and 7pm on one particular weekday.     

Locals walk and ride from Hoboken to Jersey City on the Newport section of the walkway, Summer 2011. (c) AJ Besold

With the Hoboken PATH Station remaining closed due to extensive damage, the walkway is now proving to be critical transportation asset.  By bike and using the walkway, the trip between the two stations is stress-free and takes about 5 minutes.  By road, cyclists would have to travel on treacherous Observer Highway, Marin Blvd and Washington Blvd (all roads even this LCI would rather not ride on) and its nearly twice as far (Note - WBJ realizes that those living in western Hoboken would find it more direct to use Marin Blvd to get to the Newport PATH Station).


View Hoboken PATH to Newport PATH in a larger map

This sudden emergency demand for bike parking at the Newport PATH didn't just materialize out of the blue after Hurricane Sandy.  Under the leadership of Mayor Dawn Zimmer, the City of Hoboken has been working hard to make the city and the Hoboken Transit Terminal much more accommodating for those looking to use a bike.  Back in October, Hoboken was named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.  With the Hoboken PATH Station remaining closed, the Newport PATH Station has become an obvious alternative for those looking to access the PATH system by bike.  Without the Newport walkway the PATH system would have remained much more difficult to access for many Hoboken residents.

Restore the Shore Better than Before!

You have seen the disaster photos over and over, but what I noticed in these photos was that the most basic forms of transportation - walking and biking were the only viable ways to get around in the hours immediately after the storm. In the absence of subways, traffic signals and even gas stations, Bike Portland did an excellent job of documenting the surge of bicycle traffic in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. On a lesser scale pictures from the barrier islands showed the same thing. Roads were either destroyed or covered with sand and debris that made car travel impossible.

Buried within the $30 billion dollar price tag are miles of damaged boardwalks and multi-use paths.Check out the shambles left over from the Sandy Hook Bikeway and the Henry Hudson Trail.  The tourist packed boardwalks will be rebuilt very quickly (perhaps too quickly). But the lesser used off-road paths may be pushed way down the priority list and perhaps in the case of the frequently damaged Bayshore section of the Henry Hudson Trail,a discussion about a total redesign. It is going to take a concerted effort by bicycle and walking advocates to bring these trails back up to speed

Multi-Use Path at Sandy Hook

The discussion of sustainable redevelopment of the coast is focused around the restoration of natural features to buffer the damage that robust coastal storms bring as well as implementing stricter building codes. But this rebuild is also an opportunity to create a more sustainable and safer transportation system as well.

Route 35 between Island Beach and Pt. Pleasant is a great example. In the 50's and 60's this road was expanded to create a four lane highway through some of the most densely built beach communities in the state. While there are wide shoulders, much of the road lacks sidewalks, crosswalks and even landscaping. To reform minded planners and landscape architects Route 35 looks like a blank slate.






View Larger Map
We can make this a complete street! Photoshop anyone?

The need to cross major arterials in shore communities is very strong. Accommodating all those beachgoers with beachfront parking would require huge and unsightly parking fields. So most renters and weekend visitors use the best ways available to get there - on two feet or two wheels (or sometimes 3 wheels). These roads are often the biggest barriers to get to the beach and can be especially frightening for groups with lots of gear and small children.

The rebuild of roads like Route 35 and Route 71 will put the NJ's complete streets policy to the test. County roads such as Long Beach Blvd are not subject to the State's policy, but the discussion to make all roads ravaged by Superstorm Sandy safer begins Today!

What were you thankful for this Thanksgivings weekend?

As you likely remember, the weather this Thanksgiving Day was spectacular.  When it became logistical possible for me to ride my bike the 50 miles to dinner at my brothers house in beautiful Long Valley New Jersey, I jumped at the opportunity to do the spectacularly fun ride.   As luck would have it the wind was at my back and the sun warmed the Autumn air just right.  The miles ticked by at fast and seemingly effortless pace and elevated my mood even more than on a typical ride.

With nearly three hours of time alone with my thoughts, I let my mind wander and ended up contemplating the meaning of the holiday.  As someone who is passionate about making the world better for those who walk and bike and inspired by the beautiful New Jersey countryside, I began thinking of what I'm thankful for. While this is far from a comprehensive list, and it sure doesn't replace friends, family and health, I thought I'd let you know of some of the things that I'm thankful for in our small niche in the world.

• New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition - It's been a very tenuous first couple of years but New Jersey's still fledgling biking and walking advocacy is getting a little more stable.  For several years the Coalition was being held together by the tireless and valiant efforts of its past presidents, Jim Nicholson and Karen Jenkins.  Without their effots I doubt we would be having a 4th Annual New Jersey Bike Summit this February. 
  
  However I'm extra excited this year because the Coalition has a paid executive director. I am very thankful that Cyndi Steiner is at the helm simply because she's a highly experienced "bicyclist".  She just doesn't ride a bike once in a while but rather lives her life around the bicycle and uses her bike everyday for spirited high-speed fun as well as practical transportation.  As such she knows, firsthand what its like trying to ride a bike around the state and dealing with its drivers.  But what few people know is she wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Brendan Poh, owner of Cyclecraft, who is significantly underwriting her salary.  Talk about putting you money where your mouth is.  Thanks a bunch Brendan!


• NJ TRANSIT - Yeah, they sometimes disappoint us bike advocates.  And yes, I don't ride the trains everyday during rush hour to have become bitter but no other state has a statewide transit network like NJ TRANSIT.  With new, world class, rail and bus rolling stock, NJ TRANSIT is becoming an increasingly attractive option.  The new, low-floor metro buses serving the northern half of the state now have bike racks like those found in South Jersey giving bicycling commuters even more multi-modal options.  And it doesn't stop there. 
  
  While it is a slow process, every time NJ TRANSIT renovates a train station they hit a home run.  No.  The smash grand-slam!  The Trenton Transit Center is again, world class and absolutely spectacular.  Even the new modest Somerville Station is exceptionally pleasant and well thought out.  And these stations are the focus of many of our walkable older towns.  They help keep these towns vibrant and very viable as the stations provide a very critical, car-free link to well paying jobs in New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia and beyond.
  
  Now if NJ TRANSIT could give us some better bike parking and vertical bike-racks on NJ TRANSIT rail cars, I'd be over the moon!


•  Voorhees Transportation Center - Housed at the Bloustein School at Rutgers University, very few states have a transportation think tank with the caliber of faculty and staff like VTC.  Even fewer have one that has an office dedicated to investigating bicycle and pedestrian and Safe Routes to School issues.  And no others have a John Pucher on its faculty, the undisputed leading expert on bike/ped policies and comparing them across states and nations.  When John speaks, the who bike/ped world listens and he's here in New Jersey!


•  NJDOT - Yes, we here at WalkBikeJersey don't always see eye-to-eye with NJDOT and that's okay.   We would rather have our occasional disagreements with a NJDOT that has a leading and well staffed bike / ped and Safe Routes to School office than dealing with almost all other states.  The bicycling and pedestrian policies at NJDOT are leaps and bounds ahead of a vast majority of other states.  NJDOT's Complete Streets Policy is considered the best in the country.  I've been told that the staff at bike/ped office were instrumental at preventing rumblestrips from being installed on rural roads which had the potential to create significant hazards for bicyclists and ruin many very bikable roads.  Also, NJDOT reserves state transportation monies to fund bicycle and pedestrian projects.  While this pot of money has shrunken significantly over the years it is also something few other states do.
  
  And while we are on the topic of NJDOT, I'm very thankful for Commissioner James Simpson.  He clearly gets it.  Last year, when we here at WalkBikeJersey bought to his attention of how restrictive new NJ TRANSIT rules were that prevented cyclists from boarding and deboarding trains at low-level train stations, he understood and quickly acted.  I expected a long drawn-out battle on this but we got what we wanted almost immediately.  Thanks Commish!


• Living in New Jersey - Finally, as simple as it sounds, I wouldn't give up living here for almost anything!  The cycling in our state is truly second to none.  Every time I get on a bike and travel out into the countryside my love affair with our state is renewed and strengthened.  New Jersey has a fantastic network of quite, scenic and endlessly entertaining, centuries-old rural roads that await anyone with a bike, a spirit for adventure and a willingness to explore.  And the quality cycling isn't all that bad once one one enters the suburbs or even the cities.  With a large amount of New Jersey's suburbs and cities built prior to the age of the dead-end cul-de-sac, it is often very easy to find quite residential roads that will take you across town or with a little more investigating, even across the county.
  
  New Jersey's charms don't end once one gets off the bike.  Again, many our towns and cities were built when the pedestrian was king, not the car.  Accordingly our towns are suburbly walkable with good sidewalk networks, functioning and charming downtowns, with many having access to transit.  Yes, many still need help to repair their pedestrian networks.  Sidewalks need to be fixed and even installed in places.  And in other towns the street layouts have been bent to the will of the automobile but the solid bones of a great walking environment are still there. 
  
  And if you think I only like rural New Jersey for biking and walking, I invite you to take a ride on pleasantly wide JFK Boulevard East in Hudson County or walk along its spectacular pedestrian promenade.  For several miles you will be 200 feet above the Hudson River with unmatched views of the Manhattan Skyline.  Simply WOW! 

So as this holiday weekend comes to a close, lets not forget how good we have it here.  Yeah Hurricane Sandy did give us a pretty big wallop.  Some of our favorite places, many of which we love to walk and bike, have quite literally been destroyed including many peoples' homes.  And yes, we have a long way to go to make New Jersey a bike/ped paradise we want it to be but we are well on our way and way ahead many other states.  We just need to not forget what we have been blessed with already.

We also need not forget to say thanks along the way.

- Andy B.

Do the DVRPC "Bike to Transit Stations" survey

The very nice yet exceptional sheltered bicycle
parking at the Hoboken NJ TRANSIT Station.

If you live in, or travel with your bike in the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) service area, please take a moment to fill out the Bike to Transit Stations survey.  In New Jersey DVRPC services Mercer, Burlington, Gloucester, and Camden counties and this survey is investigating bicycle parking conditions at all rail transit stations in these counties.  These include all RiverLINE and PATCO stations, SEPTA's West Trenton Station, and NJ TRANSIT's Princeton, Princeton Junction, Hamilton, Trenton, Cherry Hill, Lindenwald and Atco Stations.  This is a map based survey.  Simply scroll over to the station or stations that you use, click on the button and give your feedback about the bicycle amenities (or lack there of) at that particular station.

The survey is open until December 1st and when I looked at it today many New Jersey stations had not been surveyed even once.  So if you get board watching football between courses at Thanksgiving dinner, do the survey instead and fill in those blanks!

More about this survey can be found in this write-up by Silva and our friends at the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance.

Parks, Trails and favorite bike roads likely unsafe and closed this weekend

Stay out of the parks!  Stay off the trails!  And be careful when you ride your bike on the road this weekend!

Most state parks are closed due to storm damage mostly in the form of downed and dangerously hanging trees.  D&R Canal State Park (includes Six Mile Run) and Allaire are on the list.  Both parks are popular with mountain bikers and casual cyclists alike who ride on multi-use trails.

Many county parks are likely in the same condition.  Checking the Monmouth County Parks Department webpage didn't find any mention park closures but its hard to imagine that they are in any better shape.  Hartshorn Woods reaches several hundred feet in elevation only a half mile from the Atlantic.  With such exposure to the brutal winds of Sandy, it's easy to imagine that the forest receive significant damage there.

Elsewhere in Monmouth County, it is highly probable that the Henry Hudson Trail will also have tree as well as flooding damage.  The exceptionally scenic Bayshore Trail portion of the Henry Hudson (between Highlands and Atlantic Highlands) was damaged by storm surge in the March 2011 Nor'easter.  With stories coming in of catastrophic flooding damage in many Raritan Bay communities the trail must be in much worse condition after Sandy.

Scenarios like these are sure to be repeating themselves in many parks throughout the state.  If you haven't been specifically informed that the park and or trail is safe for you to walk, hike or bike, you should stay out!  There is no need to put more demands on our strained emergency management systems.

The same amount of caution applies to us road cyclists too.  While the roads may be open to traffic, hazardous conditions remain.  Tree and other debris still liter roadways, particularly on the edge of the roads that cyclists frequent.  Not only could one crash into unexpected hazards deposted at the side of the road but branches, leaves and other litter can cause one to slip and crash, particularly when riding a bike with narrow tires.

Again, be safe and maybe wait till next weekend to go out and have fun.  We got too much cleaning up to do this weekend anyway.

Post Your Bikes After Sandy Photos

Tired of looking at photos of gas lines? How about photos of bikes being used for transportation in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy? We would like to see them, tag them as bikesandy on Flickr.