Asbury Park Awarded $237,000 For Main Street Streetscape

ASBURY PARK AWARDED $237,000 FOR MAIN STREET STREETSCAPE

A Transportation Alternatives Program [TAP] grant goes towards bike racks, benches, trees, and more

The grant comes after the official approval of another transformation plan for Main Street between the curbs. The City Council approved a Road Diet Pilot for the State highway, which will transform the four-lane street into a three-lane street, complete with center turning lanes and bike lanes. The new striping configuration will be implemented following the repavement of Main Street by NJDOT, a project which is anticipated to be completed in 2019.

Asbury Park TAP Grant

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Tri-State Transportation Campaign: Introducing Families for Safe Streets New Jersey

So far this year 264 people have been killed on New Jersey roads, 70 of which were pedestrians or people riding bikes.

If the past is any indicator of the future, that number is unfortunately going to increase in the next several weeks, because the “101 Days of Summer” are the most dangerous time of year on US roads. On average, 10 more people are killed each day between Memorial Day and Labor Day compared to the rest of the year.

We don’t have to accept this tragic state of affairs. And some people in New Jersey have decided they’re not going to.

At press conference in Millburn yesterday, state legislators, local elected officials and safety advocates gathered to support Sangeeta and Sunil Badlani for the launch of Families for Safe Streets New Jersey. The Badlanis, along with other families who have been impacted by traffic violence, have formed this New Jersey chapter (the first Families for Safe Streets group was founded by a group of families in New York City) to create a state where no traffic death is acceptable so that no other families suffer as they have.

http://blog.tstc.org/2017/06/22/introducing-families-safe-streets-new-jersey/

London Mayor’s Transportation Vision: Add a Million People While Cutting Traffic

Cities all over the world are implementing a vision of streets for people, not just for cars.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Transportation Vision: Add a Million People While Cutting Traffic By 3 Million Miles Each Day

A new 25-year master plan clearly states that private cars are a problem in cities, and lays out an aggressive agenda to improve London for walking, bicycling, and transit.

For London's mayor, reconfiguring streets for people is an essential goal, not a frill. Image: Mayor's Draft Transport Strategy

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/06/21/london-mayor-sadiq-khans-transportation-vision-add-a-million-people-while-cutting-traffic-by-3-million-miles-each-day/

Banning cars in Oslo-or banning parking

When Oslo decided to be the first European city to ban cars from its centre, businesses protested. So the city did the next best thing: it banned parking.

 

In 2015, when Oslo decided to be Europe’s first city to ban cars from its center, there was a strong backlash from local businesses and car owners. A year later, the City has a new solution: to ban parking. To be rolled out in three phases, this more gradual but equally radical plan holds that by 2019, all 650 downtown parking spots will be transformed into shared public spaces such as playgrounds, bike lanes, and seating areas.

But there was backlash.

Then-

The council changed its stated ambition to have a car-free city centre. It now wants the “fewest possible vehicles”. Drivers are by no means off the hook. “The goal is that people with cars will feel like they’re visitors, rather than owning the streets,” says Berg. “We’ll make it difficult for people to want to drive or get around by car.”

People walk at the street at Gronland district in Oslo, Norway

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/13/oslo-ban-cars-backlash-parking?mc_cid=fa36472817&mc_eid=f9a30e01e0

Successful Outcomes of Parking Reform

Few people have been leading the fight for parking reform like Donald Shoup, retired UCLA urban planning professor and author of “The High Cost of Free Parking,” and Jeffrey Tumlin, director of strategy at consulting firm Nelson\Nygaard. Robert Steuteville interviewed the pair recently for the Congress for the New Urbanism.

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/06/15/parking-reform-has-big-implications-for-sustainable-transit-and-for-ride-hailing-too/

CELEBRATING THE SUNSET LAKE FOOTBRIDGE RESTORATION AND REOPENING

Sunset lake bridge

CELEBRATING THE SUNSET LAKE FOOTBRIDGE RESTORATION AND REOPENING Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on Friday, June 23 at 4 p.m.
6/14/17 Asbury Park, NJ – Closed off since 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, a landmark as old as the City of Asbury Park itself is open and ready for the City to enjoy again. Restoration work was completed this month on the Sunset Lake footbridge, connecting Emory Street from Fifth Avenue to Sunset Avenue across Sunset Lake. An official ribbon-cutting reopening ceremony will be held on Friday, June 23 at 4 p.m. on the Fifth Avenue side of the footbridge.
“The bridge has only been open for a week, and it’s already been completely embraced by the City,” said Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn. “People are walking their dogs across the footbridge, incorporating it into their jogging routes, biking across it, and sitting on the benches to enjoy the views with their children.”
“In a city defined by its bodies of water, Sunset Lake is the only one of Asbury’s lakes which is fully contained within the City,” said member of the City Council and the Sunset Lake Commission Eileen Chapman. “We are so delighted to see this footbridge open, contributing to the rejuvenation of Sunset Park and Sunset Lake.”
The footbridge has been closed since Hurricane Sandy, in October 2012. Its restoration was largely funded by FEMA, and included full replacement of the bridge, as well as enhancements to bridge-adjacent parts of the lake and park.
The project represented a chance not just to replace the bridge, but to improve it. While keeping to the FEMA requirement that the bridge be restored to its pre-storm condition, the project was able to enhance the footbridge’s aesthetic appearance, update it for current code requirements, and strengthen it against possible future storm events.
Work began on the footbridge in late November of 2016. The project included demolition of the footbridge, pile driving, new bulkhead installation, construction of the new bridge, light installation, railing and bench installation, concrete site work, and landscaping.
The original construction date for the footbridge isn’t clear, but records exist for the 1888 reconstruction of an Emory Street Bridge, updated to carry streetcar tracks for trolleys running from Deal Lake to the Central Business District. Historic aerial photographs and postcards show the bridge going back to 1930, with a 1945 rebuild to remove the trolley tracks, which were by then out of use. The only documented repair for the footbridge was for a full deck replacement in 2006.