Washington Street: War Zone

More “nicks in the armor” on Washington Street

Almost everyone in town knows that Washington Street is a total disaster when it comes to the pavement. And yesterday, construction crews were ripping it up once again near 5th Street. Not sure if it was related to some public utility – or with the upcoming Anthropologie located close by.

Doesn’t matter really, because the net result on your kidneys, brain and car suspension will be the same. Disastrous!

Hoboken’s “main drag” Washington St. should be top priority

5/18/2012:

Imagine coming to Hoboken for the first time, to visit one of the popular destinations on Washington Street.

Naturally, not knowing first hand how crazy the city gets on weekends, you’ll most likely be driving around and around searching for parking. And during your spins around the block – you might possibly suffer from kidney damage as your vehicle takes blow after blow from the horrid pavement conditions that pepper our most highly traveled thoroughfare.

Some intersections in Hoboken are so bad – that when large trucks drive through – the earth shakes.

It must have some long-term effect on properties as well. Not good. Take this spot at 10th & Washington which was spot-filled earlier this week. The result? Even worse than before!

Drivers AND pedestrians are at risk on Washington Street

Of course, after tinkering with the ridiculous parking meters and walking 8 blocks to the restaurant you’ll also have to be sharp and avoid stepping into the divots in the road as well – as this poor woman learned the hard way during a recent Hoboken Baby Parade.

She was a tough cookie, and was OK – but wow, what a blow to the skull!

Solutions for bettering Washington St. in Hoboken

As you can see – a first time visitor to Hoboken will take some rather negative memories back home with them, and may be reluctant to come back anytime soon. We don’t want that now, do we?

• If I were Mayor – I’d make it my top priority to get this street smooth as a baby’s bottom as soon as possible. Before bike lanes, before parks, before giving pay raises to my friends and hiring more lawyers.
• Additionally – those ridiculous brick pavers that our cross-walks are comprised of HAVE TO GO. They’re part of the reason keeping the “Avenue” smooth is more complicated than necessary. Sell the bricks to some contractor to re-coup some of the expenditures. Instead – make ALL of Washington Street ASPHALT. They have new “faux brick” methods that stencil the hot asphalt and apply a dyed epoxy coloring to give in the appearance of expensive brick – but at a fraction of the cost. They’re already doing this in Jersey City near Grove Street. You can read how the Jersey City stamped crosswalks survived the blizzard of 2010 – without a single scratch. Hoboken? I think you know the answer.
  
• If the street needs to be torn up for something other than an emergency like a water main break (which we have a lot of anyway because of the crumbling infrastructure that lies beneath), get the contractor or property owner to at least contribute some reasonable fee towards an escrow account which can be applied towards future paving costs.

No matter what – something needs to be done – and quickly.

Washington Street is the “poster child” of Hoboken, and is in the absolute WORST CONDITION EVER!