This news is getting a little old now but is significant enough on the statewide level that WalkBikeJersey needs to cover it.
Early last week the Jersey Journal reported about Jersey City's plan to add 35.2 miles of bike lanes and 19.5 miles of sharrows throughout the city in a attempt to start a comprehensive, 54.7 mile bicycle transportation network.
Jersey City is in a unique position to create a fairly luxurious bicycle network as most of the main avenues are exceedingly wide and underutilized, at least in the eastern portion of the city. It has been my own personal experience that much of Jersey City's streets are easy to navigate, even during rush-hour, as motor traffic demand is just not there.
This is, in part, due to planning efforts in the city that placed much less emphasis on accommodating the car and instead focusing efforts on planning around pedestrians and public transportation, namely the Hudson-Bergen Lightrail and PATH. Also, Jersey City doesn't even require parking and puts a maximum on the number of spaces! So effective has this planning been, that it was the focus of a major Streetfilms series and can be viewed below.
This is the first large New Jersey town to embrace a comprehensive bicycle plan and will undoubtedly act as a model and leader for many other Jersey towns to follow.
Go JC!
4 comments:
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biking Philippines
I hope the new bike lanes are better thought out than the embarrassing one on Grove.
At the north end, the lane simply ends about 20' before the intersection with Christopher Columbus Blvd. A cyclist who didn't know that will find himself crushed between parked cars and right-turning cars (you cannot proceed straight, and must turn left or right at this point)
It's a classic example of "manufactured conflict" with bike lanes.
I see more cyclists on the sidewalk of Grove than in the lane on that block.
Max,
Totally agree. Bike lane designs need to be more assertive and willing to take space away from the automobile to be effective.
I live and bike in Jersey City, and I think that the Grove bike lanes are useful - they position cars and cyclists more safely than no bike lane at all. I ride them frequently and the only problem I see is that they should be extended further.
I was wondering if anyone has seen a map or a list of Jersey City's planned bike lane/route mileage? Is it available anywhere online?
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