Bike path planning meeting
28
June
6/28/2008 Update:
This update got lost in the sauce last week.
From Juan Melli:
“I scanned in the bike plan that was proposed tonight by Ian Sacs, who did this as a volunteer. I also wrote up a short post with some information describing the types of lanes used and why they were chosen.”
http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/hoboken/blog/2008/06/25/hoboken-bicycle-plan-proposal/
6/25/2008 Update:
FYI, the meeting is today at the Multi-Service Center. Oh, you also might want to check out this bike advocacy group “Bike Hoboken.”
6/18/2008:
Many residents have suggested that putting painted bike paths on our roadways would not only increase safety for bicyclists, but for drivers and pedestrians as well.
If you’re interesting in hearing more about it, be sure to come to the (re-scheduled) meeting next Wednesday, June 25th.
What do you think of this initiative?
Bike paths are a good idea
“Hi Hoboken411,
I just wanted to pass this information along in case you wish to post it so that we can possibly generate greater community support for this initiative. Personally, I had no idea that there was a bike path planning meeting in Hoboken or that bike lanes were under consideration. I have excerpted this information from an email that I received from a bike group to which I belong (BTCNJ):”
The Hoboken bike path planning meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday, June 25th at 7:00pm at Hoboken City Hall.
To answer questions about the plan, the whole idea for bike lanes in Hoboken stemmed from excessively wide streets that encouraged speeding. To reduce lane widths and thus vehicle speeds, we are proposing a network of class II and III bicycle lanes crisscrossing the city of Hoboken. The public has not been shown a precise map of where these might go, but we have some ideas from both elected officials and the bicycle community in Hoboken. The city has its own striping equipment, so the cost of doing this would be pretty minimal, and there appears to be support from both the public and elected officials. Based on observations, there is already significant recreational, commuter, and delivery bicycle use in Hoboken. The primary objectives for the meeting on June 25th will be:
- Address questions and concerns about installing bicycle lanes and bicycle facilities
- Listen to community ideas about which streets might best be suited for bicycle lanes
- Hear community ideas for other bicycle improvements (Bicycle Parking, driver education, signage, etc.)
- Start wheels turning for a future Bike Master Plan
Would you support this idea?
Hoboken, pedestrian safety, Bike Lanes, Bike Paths, Transportation
101. elvisroberts | June 25th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
attendance way better than i expected at tonight’s mtg - thx Dawn Zimmer for organizing (or at least being there?).
personally, i think we’re pretty lucky in hoboken that we haven’t OVERstriped all the streets. My experience, and i think most highway road junkies and wonk types will tell you - that striped lanes ENCOURAGE people to go faster - on bikes AND especially in cars.
though i think Bfield might be too narrow for a decent lane, Grand St would be fine. It’s plenty wide. Willow might work too. 11th Street with the Mall would be a nice east west route to and from the water, esp if you put the bike lane along the mall.
also important is better bike parking (better and MORE). At the PATH it looks like a bike graveyard, it’s really bad for biking, actually. Plus, I can say I’ve had more parts stolen from my bike(s) parked at the PATH station in 4 years than i did in 12 years parking on NYC streets.
102. Friedupright | June 26th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I think it might help to have more walk/don’t walk signs, especially on major streets like Washington Street. There are a few, but not enough. Sometimes, because of double parked cars and cars too close to the intersection, you do have to walk out into the street to see if it is safe to cross. Sometimes, you can look up at the stop light but in glaring sun you can’t always see if it is green or red. Also, because of the way the stop light is pointing, you kind of have to get out there in front of it to see what color it is. And don’t anyone call me stupid. Yes, I know how to look both ways before crossing a street. I just think the walk/don’t walk signs might facilitate not only crossing the street but a safer way for bike riders and pedestrians to share the street.
103. bradykp | June 26th, 2008 at 11:26 am
elvisroberts wrote:
hey, is there any way to get a summary of what happened?
104. bradykp | June 26th, 2008 at 11:38 am
reading the bike plan on the bikehoboken.com website right now, and i think it sounds like it addressed many of the concerns here. i like the idea of putting the bike paths on some streets on the side of the street where the passenger door of a parked car would open, not the driver door. i didn’t even think of that, but it’s a great point.
also, the “sharrows” idea sounds perfect and addresses one of the criticisms (i think it was midnight racer) that the road should be shared. these painted markings on specified routes would remind drivers and pedestrians that bikers will be on those roads. here’s a quick highlight:
“Although bicyclists have the same right to the road as cars, the plan creates a grid of designated bike routes designed to raise awareness of drivers, thus creating a safer environment for both bike riders and drivers. Park Ave and Madison St are designated routes running north from Observer Highway to 15th St while Grand St and Garden St run parallel in the south-bound direction. East-west bike corridors conecting to the light rail stops are proposed at 3rd & 4th and 8th & 9th along with another pair at 12th & 13th.
Since part of the purpose is to encourage more people to bike within Hoboken, more heavily trafficked roads like Washington St or Observer Hwy were not included in the proposal. Bike racks are also proposed all along Washington St, 1st Ave, at the PATH and Light Rail stops at 2nd and 9th streets. A draft of the proposal is below.”
only thing is, i’m disappointed they just want racks. i’m still skeptical of riding a bike of any value to the PATH station, as I don’t know how much of it will be left after 8-10 hours of sitting there.
105. MidnightRacer | June 26th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Forget about bike racks. Get one of those small fold up bikes that you can stuff into a backpack (that comes with the special bikes). Carry it to work with you.
Otherwise, there are way too many crooks waiting by the PATH station for you to hand your bike to them at the racks.
106. mistermarr | June 26th, 2008 at 11:55 am
The bike racks at the PATH are a disgrace. I’m amazed that people in Hoboken’s government can walk by them every day and do nothing. A couple have come out of the pavement and are just tossed aside. The area is full of trash. The racks are full of old abandoned bikes. If the racks were functional, clean, cleared of decomposing bikes, and sufficient for the number of bikes being brought to the PATH, you’d probably feel better using them. That plus a good lock and daily parking wouldn’t be that risky. Especially since PA police like to park their cars and trucks and hang out right in front of them. Your bigger worry is leaving a bike with a basket, which causes our friendly citizens to assume your bike must actually be a trash can!
107. bradykp | June 26th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
MidnightRacer wrote:
i’ve considered this actually. I only walk from 1st and jefferson so it’s not really for my Hoboken commute anyhow. When I get to the 33rd street path station, i can either deal with the subway to 42nd and transfer to take the 7 to grand central, or I can just walk. If i could bike that segment of my commute, I’d cut 10 minutes off easily. I could probably cut 5 minutes off in Hoboken.
108. bradykp | June 26th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
mistermarr wrote:
i think if it looked less messy it would be safer, but I still would not feel comfortable parking a bike worth more than $500 unless there was an attendant. Plenty of cities have bicycle parking lots at major travel hubs. I don’t see why Hoboken couldn’t do this.
I know the PA Police are there most of the day, but are they really paying attention to the bikes?
109. mistermarr | June 26th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
bradykp wrote:
yeah, I bought a junky looking bike off craigslist to commute with… see your point. A bike rack attendant would be an opportunity to add some non-essential payroll to the city budget! sounds like a winner!
110. homeworld | June 26th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
The only way a bike lane would make sense is if it’s separated from traffic. Also, putting one on Washington Street is a bad idea. It would make a lot more sense on a thoroughfare with less traffic. They just tested this in Manhattan around 23rd street, and have the bike lane between parked cars and the sidewalk.
111. bradykp | June 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
homeworld wrote:
if you read the bike plan they aren’t planning to put a path on washington.
there are plenty of cities worldwide that have bike lanes that aren’t separated from traffic and it works fine.
112. mistermarr | June 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Why is everyone focusing on a lane on Washington and assume that is being proposed? Because of the photoshopped graphic that 411 put up? The plan on the bikehoboken site doesn’t show a lane on Washington. No one is proposing it as far as I can tell.
113. bradykp | June 26th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
mistermarr wrote:
i guess it’s because people are stupid?
just kidding. but i think lots of people would assume washington street since it’s where everything is, but no one is listening that that’s not where they are proposing to put it.
114. bornandrazedinhobo | June 28th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Under NJ Law bikes are considered a form of MV and must abide by the same laws as MV’s. Yet on a daily basis many bicyclist have a careless disregard for others anyway and will always do as they please being there is ZERO enforcement in Hoboken.
One example of this are the jerks that think it is OK to speed down the sidewalk without slowing to ped’s even going as far as to refuse to let them pass clipping some as they speed by. A good amount of these same assholes usually have headphones on.
Does anyone think that if a car is not going to stop at a stop sign or yield to ped’s already (in fact speed up on these occasions) that a bike lane is going to make much or a difference? Many drivers will just see the biker as a bigger target. Take a look at the bike lanes up by Pier A. They are marked well and yet crowed with people and even have city vehicle that drive on it who feel they do not have to wait in traffic.
Don’t think it will work, but I’m sure Roberts will break out the big cutters for the ribbon ceremony!
115. homeworld | June 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am
bradykp wrote:
But what’s wrong with seperating it from the traffic? All it would involve is shifting the parked cars over 5 feet, and making sure people don’t double park.
116. bradykp | June 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
homeworld wrote:
nothing is wrong with it, in fact, i’d prefer it. but you stated that “the only way it would make sense” is if it was separated from traffic. i just pointed out, it’s not the ONLY way.
117. goldsoundz | August 6th, 2008 at 10:00 am
boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles...s_bike_lanes_nearly_set_for_riders/
118. bradykp | August 6th, 2008 at 10:33 am
goldsoundz wrote:
thanks for the link. good to see there is progress in some of the worst biking cities. just a few months ago Bicycling mag had it’s “best cities” article, and boston was again near the bottom of the list. The upside to that is that there is a lot of room for growth which means the city could potentially make a big dent in congestion and maybe reduce the demand on oil even further. i like seeing progress like this.
119. NickAdams | August 10th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
There should be a continuous bike path along the river so riders don’t have to take their life in their hands on Sinatra Drive. From like Weehawken north there is a more or less continuous path along the river for a few miles. Hoboken should really be connected to that.
Also, I have seen at LIRR stations, private secure storage lockers for bikes. No reason we don’t have that at PATH as well. Install these lockers, put up a camera and no more bike theft. Anything that results in less car traffic in this town is a good thing.
120. Litterboken | August 10th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
NickAdams wrote:
Actually, there is little left to do to complete the Hoboken connection to the north. Maxwell Place, the little crazy corner by the light rail/ Chart House area, of course the remainder of the construction in Edgewater… Also I just did the ride to Liberty State Park this weekend, and THAT connection is also fairly close to complete. NJ Transit needs to get on that project soon!
From Hoboken, one can cycle all the way across to Manhattan. It’s not pretty, and we could do better, but at least we have this for now. Hey, the paths along the Hudson in Manhattan are great; those are pretty!
PS, the PATH people can’t even provide trash cans for commuters . Even the NYC subway system has those!!