JFK Blvd pedestrian safety

Submitted by gigiwasabi_jc t3_10tlqo6 in jerseycity

Where might be the best place to find history of JFK design and improvements? I found the 2019 Safety Corridor report here but I’d love to find current (how are they doing with that plan!) and past advocacy from community groups. Doesn’t seem like there was much community input in the linked report (none in the acknowledgements, 1 community meeting and 3 “pop ups” listed in methods). Which I know, quelle surprise from HudCo. But still just trying to piece together what’s being done. TIA.

14

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

jimmybot t1_j7d2qwg wrote

Regarding their corridor report: Anything undertaken by NJTPA or Hudson County traffic engineering must be taken with a grain of salt. Daylighting, curb extensions, and tallying past crash data and reasons are of course all great. But otherwise they simply don't have a pro-safety or modern approach to street design, especially in comparison to Jersey City and Hoboken.

One of their recommendations for improving safety is adding slip lanes, what they call a "channelized right turn". But dedicated right turn lanes and slip lanes are known to be quite dangerous for pedestrians because they are about speed and driver convenience, not safety. Jersey City has looked to eliminate them where possible. This is one of many good articles on why they are bad: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/11/5/slip-lanes-would-never-exist-if-we-prioritized-safety-over-speed

Another problem is the lane widths they have continued to use and even recommend in long-term concepts. Car lanes should be 10ft and bus/truck lanes can be 10.5 or 11ft. The 12ft lanes that exist along many JFK straightway segments tell drivers 50mph is safe even while the posted speed limit is 25mph.

Overall, Hudson County needs to adopt Vision Zero and pilot safety improvements regularly and quickly instead of always waiting for grants. Some of their safety projects are from Obama-era grants, and it is not an effective way of getting things done.

Here is the project website for improvements in the vicinity of Journal Square: https://www.jfkblvdproject.com/ The front page shows the JSQ bike rack. The public comments are pretty pro-safety and pro-bike facilities but of course the final plans provide none. Here's a recording of comments from one of the public meetings: https://www.jfkblvdproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/JFK-PIC-Minutes-07-15-20-Comments-Responses-FINAL.pdf

There has been an effort for traffic enforcement on JFK by JCPD West District that appears to have had some effect, but it's tough given how high the design speed is and how much bad driving occurs on the Boulevard.

It would be nice if there was regular release of stats on locations, times, severity of injuries for crashes but right now, the only regularly reported public data is the state police fatality data: https://nj.gov/njsp/info/fatalacc/index.shtml

SafeStreetsJC regularly posts/forwards about crashes in Jersey City, but it is based on citizen activity and is not comprehensive in any way: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23jccrashes

Hudson County Complete Streets is a good group to get in touch with: https://hudcostreets.org/

Newsletters:

9

Muchamuchacha42 t1_j7ioqdb wrote

Here’s a list of “safety improvements” coming to Kennedy between Sip and Bergen near JSQ but is still vague and what I find insane is it appears the Bergen Ave two-way bike lane is being extended just 100ft, stopping a half block short of the entrance to the PATH station.

Edit to include the link: https://www.nj.com/hudson/2023/01/busy-commercial-stretch-of-kennedy-boulevard-to-receive-72-million-pedestrian-safety-makeover.html

4