Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition is happy to report that there are upcoming improvements to two major city thoroughfares: 3rd and 4th Ave (school zones), and First Avenue!
Safe Routes To School traffic calming measures around our school zones are finally going to be a reality! APCSC has been advocating, and waiting to see the implementation of measures to slow drivers and make streets around schools safer. Children are the most vulnerable road users.
AP former Transportation Director had designed a plan with input from APCSC for traffic calming plans for school zones including mini roundabouts which were unfortunately shot down in response to outrage from certain city residents on 4th Ave complaining about losing parking – they were completely incorrect, no parking would have been lost – but it set the project back years.
The Safe Routes To School traffic calming plans literally went back to the drawing board, and the new plan was submitted by our current Transportation Director with raised crosswalks instead of mini roundabouts. It’s taken over 3 years to see the plan become a reality, and we believe that these traffic calming measures will be effective.
The final plan was presented at an open house on Thursday, 1/9/25.
Map of traffic calming measures in AP school zone.
First Avenue Improvements mark a response to APCSC advocacy, and show that we are working together to prioritize people walking and rolling. This is a welcome, serious commitment to make streets safe for the most vulnerable road users – anyone outside of cars, which will make streets safer for drivers too.
The Signage & Striping – FIRST AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS include implementation of curb extensions (bump outs) to make crossing distances shorter for walkers, and green markings on new bike lanes.
Have a look at the plans:
Onward!
As always we want to hear your comments and thoughts!
Whether you ride a bike or not, you’ll probably agree…
Asbury Park has been slow to implement bicycling infrastructure. Over four years ago some painted stripes and sharrows (stenciled “sharing arrows”) were installed, but since then there has been negligible painted implementation, and there are no protected, delineated bike lanes anywhere in the city.
After this Rutgers study was done in 2022 there was some hope that it would have inspired permanent implementation of protected bike lanes, or even painted striping, particularly in this area of the study, since bike lanes were proven to have a positive traffic calming impact.
There are no protected, delineated bike lanes, or markings of any kind in the area of this study, and we are still waiting for bicycling infrastructure to be implemented consistently throughout the city.
We expect Asbury Park leaders to recognize that it is inequitable to prioritize driving over vulnerable road users, and to take action to make our streets safe for everyone.
Let’s be clear about the endgame. It’s not that we want people to travel slower, it’s that we NEED fewer people being injured and killed by speeding drivers.
In this study, protected bicycle lanes marked with simple traffic cones and plastic delineators were associated with a reduction in average maximum speeds of 20 to 30 percent.
The findings prove the traffic calming effect during the time of this pop-up in 2022.
The findings come from an analysis of almost 10,000 cars during a temporary pilot demonstration project in Asbury Park, N.J., where bike lanes were both painted and delineated with traffic cones. The study incorporated 24-hour video footage of the intersection for 10 dates in March and April 2022.
The results of the study: “The Traffic Calming Effect of Delineated Bicycle Lanes,” by nine researchers at Rutgers University, including the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, will be published in the June volume of the Journal of Urban Mobility.
Average top speeds of vehicles dropped by 28 percent, by 21 percent for vehicles turning right, and by up to 8 percent for drivers going straight.
Painted-only bike lanes were also associated with a reduction of 11 to 15 percent solely for vehicles turning right. Traffic moving perpendicular to the bicycle lane experienced no decrease in speeds.
Bicycle lanes with traffic delineators will have a stronger traffic calming effect, such as reductions in speed, than with painted-only bike lanes, according to the study.
“In the context of traffic safety and Vision Zero initiatives, this finding is significant in that it suggests that delineated bike lanes can reduce traffic speeds, making the overall road environment safer for all. The pop-up bike lane reduced the traffic lane width and created a sharper turning radius, which likely served as a traffic calming mechanism.”
There is no shortage of assistance to help New Jersey towns and cities to take action, such as fromNJTPA. The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority is the federally authorized Metropolitan Planning Organization for the 13-county northern New Jersey region. Each year, we oversee over $2 billion in transportation improvement projects and provide a forum for interagency cooperation and public input.
The Rutgers New Jersey Bicycle & Pedestrian Resource Center assists public officials, transportation and health professionals, and the public in creating a safer and more accessible walking and bicycling environment through primary research, education and dissemination of information about best practices in policy and design.
Let’s make Asbury Park an accessible, equitable city for everyone.
Hello friends of Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition,
Hoping that you’ve all been safe and healthy during these winter months.
In a communication today with The City Of Asbury Park administration we discussed the removal of bollards during the recent mini, almost non-snow storm, and the delay of DPW putting them back because of the threat of another (zero) snow event. Instead of being taken away with the first forecast of snow and stored for the entire winter (snow or not) as in previous years, they were moved to the side of the roads, But it’s taken time to get them back in place where they do a critical service making streets safer for people walking and rolling. Essentially putting peoples’ safety at risk while protecting plows and bollards.
City officials too often neglect to improve road infrastructure, using snow plowing as the excuse that mini-roundabouts, curb extensions, (aka “bulb outs), speed bumps, pedestrian islands will impede plows.
First, safety road improvements can easily be designed not to interfere with plowing.
Second, the snow in our area is negligible, but even in cities where there is snowfall, it can be beneficial to safety with the snow itself creating a road narrowing effect, called a “sneckdown”,
The “portmanteau mashes up “snow” and “neckdown,” an engineering term for a sidewalk extension or street island designed to damper drivers.”
This is what happened in Asbury Park when one bollard was not removed during a snowfall. It’s a snowy mini-roundabout, creating a road-narrowing, traffic calming effect.
In addition to being a snowy safety measure, DPW wouldn’t have to spend time picking bollards up and putting them back.
Recently across the US there have been advocate and administrative meetings, and articles published about how to quickly implement measures to make our streets safer.
Crashes occur regularly in the city, especially during the tourist season. I’ve seen the aftermath on multiple occasions, and I’ll be some of you readers have too.
We don’t know current crash data in Asbury Park, or numbers of injuries or deaths.
We do know that there’s a terrible speeding problem in Asbury Park.
Some residents have protested traffic calming measures like speed bumps and mini traffic circles with the mistaken belief that they’ll lose street parking. So far no other prescribed solutions have been installed, and we don’t know of projects slated for implementation. (Not for lack of inquiring, so we’ll let you know when we find out.)
We know that “Quick Build” tactical urbanism projects work to make streets safer.
Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project Borough of Red Bank, Monmouth County, NJ
The NJBWC meeting was right in line with an opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday, by Janette Sadik-Khan, former Transportation Director on NYC, and Kate D. Levin.
As I noted above, we don’t know whether there have been recent injuries or deaths on Asbury Park streets.
Many streets are poorly lit, like intersections on Memorial Drive and other streets are wide and invite speeding.
Do any of the city leaders walk or ride a bike throughout the city day or night, and have a true sense of this reality that many people face every day?
This dark intersection looks exactly like many in Asbury Park.
Here’s a great example taken from the Strong Towns article showing before and after, how a simple paint project can make an intersection safer.
We do have the power to make our streets safer, and in doing so save the lives of people in our communities.
It had been true for many years, according to the previous traffic engineering guide, that cities had to adhere to specific standards in street design to allow for the movement of vehicles over the safety of people, including requiring a certain number of fatalities in order for infrastructure to be built.
There is grant money available to do Quick Build projects, and the projects themselves are not costly – usually only paint, then easy next steps as described in the featured articles.
This weekend I participated in an intensive training to be certified as a League Of American Bicyclists Instructor: LCI.
The League Of American Bicyclists Instructor Certification provides a solid foundation for me to initiate a bike riding program for parents and kids in Asbury Park, called Bike Bus.
Presentation Principles Of Traffic Law for certification of League Of American Bicyclists Instructor
Parents riding bikes with kids to school, picking up other kids along the way (like a bus does), has been catching on everywhere all over the globe. There are dozens of articles about this phenomenon from Barcelona; Portland; the Upper West Side of NYC; Montclair, NJ; Jersey City; Brooklyn and many, many more cities all over the US and the world.
Brooklyn Bike Bus!
It was never questioned that I could ride my bike to school as a kid, but it has become far less usual nowadays.
Many parents in Asbury Park have told me they’re afraid to let their kids ride because of traffic, so they drive them to school, which makes them traffic, which in turn creates more congestion and dangerous conditions in school zones and surrounding streets
This is a great, healthy, fun way to get kids (and their parents) out of cars.
Getting kids and parents out of cars and on bikes is a healthy way to start the school day, prepares kids’ brains to perform better in school, and builds friendships with other kids and families.
All upsides, and no downsides.
We’re not reinventing the wheel (pun intended)!
Together WE can advocate for raised crosswalks, and other creative, effective traffic calming measures around our schools.
Streets need to be designed so drivers won’t speed anywhere near or around schools, and even street closures during school hours.
Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition will host a League Of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor seminar on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th at The Boys And Girls Club.
Bicycling in Asbury Park has been transforming over the 8 years years that APCSC has been in existence.
When APCSC was founded there was only one (very worn) bike lane in the city.
People were riding bikes for daily transportation or recreation with zero awareness of the need for safe infrastructure. Main Street was a speeding 4 lane highway, many businesses had been abandoned, and drivers ruled city streets.
Locals began advocating with us and learning how we can #slowthecars with traffic calming measures like bike lanes, bumpouts, mini traffic circles, raised crosswalks, and speed bumps. The Main Street road diet was implemented after an energetic 18 months APCSC campaign.
Streets that are safe for anyone at any age to ride a bike will encourage people to ride bikes.
Residents and visitors now are beginning to understand the need for safe bike riding infrastructure – for health, economic, and social benefits.
We still have a long way to go, but improvements are being made all over the city. During these years people have become aware of the need for equitable mobility for the most vulnerable road users – which is everyone outside of a vehicle.
Our hope is that we might be able to encourage parents, teachers, and residents to be a part of a “Bike Bus” – a global movement in which adults on bikes pick up kids on bikes at “bus stops” all over town and guide them to school.
And in Williamsburg, Brooklyn: Make Way for the Bike Bus. For the school commute, families are taking to the streets with two wheels. Some have termed the movement “kidical mass.”
This is where League of American Bicyclist Instructor training comes in!
The League Seminar will equip instructors to educate members of the community, particularly parents and school kids to ride bikes confidently and safely.
Certified LCIs are empowered to teach courses that cover youth riding, how to ride confidently and legally with traffic, how to share paths and trails, motorist education, bike handling, group riding, and more.
The Main Street reconfiguration will be complete with the addition of benches, bike racks, and trees.
The City of Asbury Park received a Federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant to provide streetscape improvements along Main Street and Deal Lake Drive. “The proposed project will include the installation of over 100 new street trees to improve the aesthetics of the roadway. In addition, new decorative bicycle racks will be installed at various locations along Main Street.”
Envisioning A Better Main Street Road Diet Paper. By founding member, Doug McQueen. Printed, and shared everywhere!
In 2017, after about 18 months of research, communication with NJDOT, plus energetic and wide-reaching community engagement, APCSC and our supporters applauded the Mayor and city council members when the city agreed unanimously (video) to reverse their decision, and to move forward with the NJDOT $19 million planned Road Diet.
In 2021 NJDOT Commemorated the Main St. Road Dietwith Director Diane Guiterrez, Lt Gov. Sheila Oliver, NJ Senator Vin Gopal, local Assembly Persons, and Asbury Park Mayor Moor, City manager Donna Vieiro, and Council members, Kendle, and Clayton, Transportation Manager Mike Manzella, and me, Polli Schildge, proudly wearing my distinctive green APCSC T-shirt!
2021 Commemoration of the Main Street Road Diet.
APCSC has been showing up, gaining support and building a strong reputation across the state!
Sharing Complete Streets info at Pride DayBike Valet at Music MondaysMarching with the banner at the AP St Pat’s ParadeHelping APPD give out helmetsBike parking at Sea.Hear. Now 2018Local media, once against the road diet in 2016, supports it in 2020!Scooter education 2021Taking every opportunity to share information at city eventsBike repair for kidsScreening the great documentary “The Street Project” to a big crowd at AP Library 2022With Congressman Frank Pallone, APPD National NIght Out 2021Love the Monthly Slow Roll!With AG, Gurbir S. Grewal 2019With Frank Pallone at APPD National Night Out in 2023
As a 1.4mile sq city, AP could be a model for a truly people-centric, walkable and rollable city. We’re looking forward to many more ongoing improvements for people walking and rolling in AP, as outlined in the Asbury Park Walk and Bike Plan.
Asbury Park is the recipient of funds to implement traffic calming methods on 3rd and 4th Avenues.
Some residents have been vocal about their objections to mini roundabouts, citing loss of parking. This is NOT true – the parking they fear losing is not legal within 25′ of the corner. Yellow daylighting paint now clearly indicates required parking distance away from the corners at the intersections.
APCSC is happy to discuss the best ways to help prevent speeding, which can include other treatments like raised crosswalks, and speed humps.
After driving roundabouts, the number of people who favor them more than doubles. A survey on drivers’ views of roundabouts before and after construction conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) illustrates public opinion. Before construction, the number of drivers in favor of roundabouts was only 31 percent, and those strongly opposed was 41 percent. After driving them, this shifted to 63 percent in favor and only 15 percent strongly opposed.
Studies have shown that roundabouts are safer than traditional stop sign or traffic signal controlled intersections.
Roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or traffic signals were previously used for traffic control, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Studies by the IIHS and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have shown that roundabouts typically achieve:
A 37 percent reduction in overall collisions
A 75 percent reduction in injury collisions
A 90 percent reduction in fatality collisions
A 40 percent reduction in pedestrian collisions
National Association of City Transportation Officials Guide ToMini Roundabouts
NACTO diagram of a mini rondabout.
Mini roundabouts and neighborhood traffic circles1 lower speeds at minor intersection crossings and are an ideal treatment for uncontrolled intersections.
Mini roundabouts may be installed using simple markings or raised islands, but are best applied in conjunction with plantings that beautify the street and the surrounding neighborhood. Careful attention should be paid to the available lane width and turning radius used with traffic circles.
A neighborhood roundabout in Washington State. WSDOT
Roundabouts have become an increasingly popular intersection type by traffic engineers, communities, and transportation officials. The purpose of this report is to examine the safety performance of roundabouts by comparing the before construction crash rates and the after construction crash rates and traffic volume data. Overall, roundabouts are performing well when looking at the crash reduction record. Roundabouts in Minnesota have had over an 80% reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes
Minnesota has ~200 roundabouts, and like any other skeptical traffic engineering team, they’ve been documenting the results.
Carmel, Indiana has 138 roundabouts, the most of any city in the US. Roundabouts move traffic more efficiently and reduce the number of fatalities and serious-injury accidents. They work because of their safety record, their compatibility with the environment, their aesthetics and their ability to make it easier for pedestrians and bicyclists to navigate.
We recently had a meeting in Asbury Park about the problem of speeding, and slowing drivers on our streets, a proposed traffic calming measure, specifically mini roundabouts, and how speed limits are determined.
Our Transportation Manager attempted to explain to the attendees what the 85th Percentile Rule is as they questioned why we can’t change speed limit signs. We just can’t. Or at least not without great difficulty.
In simple terms it’s an engineering calculation that the speed limit is determined by the actual speed that people drive. It’s hopefully soon-to-be edited Manual For Urban Traffic Control Devices, MUCTD.
The 85th Percentile Rule is horrible. It’s not about safety.
Hear me? IT’S NOT ABOUT SAFETY. IT’S NOT ABOUT SLOWING DRIVERS.
It’s about expediting the movement of vehicles.
Here’s a simple, short video with great graphics with Transportation 4 America director Beth Osborne, who joined Wall Street Journal correspondent George Downs to explain why one controversial method for setting speed limits results in higher and higher speeds.
The crazy thing is that traffic engineers and planning people don’t seem to speak the same language.
We have city planners who are hamstrung by these regulations, but we can get around them with creative solutions to #slowthecars like mini-roundabouts, speed humps, street narrowing…and we have the grant money do do it.
Let’s get on the same page about saving lives and saving the planet.
Asbury Park can redesign and reinvest in our streets as spaces for people, as well as critical arteries for traffic. 3rd and 4th Avenues are through streets into and out of our city. These are wide, lovely residential streets that are treated as speedways for drivers.
Drivers will speed if they are able to do so. Education and enforcement are certainly ways to attempt to change driver behavior. But the most effective way to prevent speeding is to erect visual and physical obstacles, so drivers are less likely to press down on the gas pedal.
One such traffic calming measure that has been discussed in Asbury Park is the use of mini roundabouts. There are other effective measures as well. Please take a look at the Urban Street Design Guide, offering the best principles and practices of the foremost engineers, planners, and designers working in cities today.
The guide outlines options that are effective and attractive to keep the most vulnerable road users safe, and to maintain the beauty of our neighborhoods.
The purpose of this project is to support Safe Routes to School (SRTS) safety and access improvements by implementing traffic calming measures on Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue between Prospect Avenue and Comstock Street. The project Design and Construction cost is funded by federal funds administered through NJDOT Local Aid Transportation Alternatives (TA) Program and Design Assistance.
PROPOSED PROJECT LIMITS AND IMPROVEMENTS MAY INCLUDE:
Installing mini-roundabouts at the intersections of:
Fourth Avenue & Prospect Avenue
Fourth Avenue & Bridge Street
Fourth Avenue & Pine Street
Fourth Avenue & Comstock Street
Third Avenue & Prospect Avenue
Installing Driver Feedback (Your Speed Is) signs at the intersections of:
Fourth Avenue & Central Avenue
Fourth Avenue & Jeffrey Street
Third Avenue & Central Avenue
Third Avenue & Bridge Street
Installation of a four-way stop at Third Avenue & Comstock Street
Removal of the Existing Traffic Signal at Third Avenue & Pine Street
Shared lane markings / bicycle lanes on Third Avenue (between Ridge Avenue and Memorial Drive)
ANTICIPATED PROJECT SCHEDULE:
Design Phase Completed: 2022
Construction: 2023
VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING INFORMATION FOR WEDNESDAY 12/15/21:
The City of Asbury Park will hold a Public Information Center (PIC) to provide local residents and businesses with information on the 2018 SRTS Asbury Park – Traffic Calming, Bike and Pedestrian Safety Upgrades, Third Ave & Fourth Ave between Prospect Avenue and Comstock Street project. You are encouraged to actively participate by providing comments at the meeting, by mail, or by email.
PARTICIPATION INFORMATION
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
From 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Brief Presentation at 6:05 PM and 7:05 PM
The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity for input on the project. The Public Information Center will be held online:
You will have an opportunity to review exhibits, ask questions and discuss any concerns. Property owners with rental units are advised that tenants are also invited and encouraged to participate.
PUBLIC COMMENT DUE BY 1/5/2022:
If you are unable to participate in the public meeting on 12/15/21 or want to provide comments after the meeting, please click here to provide comment by January 5, 2022.
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