POINT PLEASANT — Safer roads for both pedestrians and cyclists are coming to Point Pleasant, as the mayor and council revealed a massive plan to add sidewalks, enhance pedestrian safety and make roads safer for all.
A massive $5,000,000 plan was unveiled at the borough council meeting on July 15, with all funds supplied by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), according to Borough Administrator Frank Pannucci. The NJDOT supplies these funds via its Municipal Aid Grants and Local Transportation Project Fund Grants.
The first of these projects, already undertaken, was sidewalks at the foot of Herbertsville Road, towards the Route 88 bridge, which were installed last year. This additional funding will allow the borough to put sidewalks on one side of the roadway, down the entire length of both Herbertsville (the Point Pleasant portion of it) and River roads. Currently, there are no sidewalks on either of these roads except for the little bit the borough was able to get started last year.
Mayor Robert Sabosik said, “These roads are unsafe for the large number of pedestrians and motorists alike. Families and residents of all ages have to walk practically in the street to get to Riverfront Park dealing with the cross traffic between Route 70 and Route 88. For the first time ever, these roads will have a safe sidewalk for residents of those neighborhoods to walk down. It’s going to be life-changing for our town.”
The borough also will concentrate on Bridge Avenue. The mayor said, “We are already beginning to eliminate some head-on parking with some of our stores and have made some improvements to Bridge Avenue these last few years, but it hasn’t been enough. We’ve already made contact with the county since it is a county road and they’ve agreed to allow us to make these improvements.”
Bike lanes are not possible on Bridge Avenue, as the roadway is not wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic and a bike-only lane. The borough will be adding “Share the Road” symbols on the pavement the entire length of the roadway, similar to what’s on Route 35 in Bay Head.
BETTER CROSSWALK SIGNAGE
In addition to this, the borough plans to improve crosswalks with ADA-compliant cutouts and ramps and also push-to-walk lighted crosswalk signs to make it safe for pedestrians to cross the roadway both day and night. The borough also will install more electric and solar speed limit signs and speed feedback signs for the entire length of Bridge Avenue.
The third targeted area is Route 88. “This is where it becomes a little tricky. We’ve made a pretty significant request to the state and they are internally seeing if everything we want to do is feasible as Route 88 is a state road,” the mayor said.
Similar to Bridge Avenue, the borough will install push-to-walk lighted crosswalk signs at various spots such as at the skatepark, Point Creamery and a few other crosswalks heavily used by pedestrians.
“This will dramatically increase safety, especially at night when these crosswalks are rather dark. We will also be upgrading the crosswalks with ADA compliant cutouts and ramps. Additionally, we will be installing electric and solar speed limit signs and speed feedback signs the entire length of Route 88,” said the mayor.
ROUTE 88 BICYCLE LANE
The harder-sell, but arguably more exciting plan, is a bicycle lane on Route 88, according to Mayor Sabosik.
From the eastbound side of the corner of Bridge Avenue to the foot of the Route 88 Bridge, there seems to be enough room for a dedicated bike lane, at least on one side of the road, according to Mayor Sabosik.
“There are commercial parking lots and there is no parking on 88 the entire length. The DOT has their engineers currently looking into this and will be getting back to the possibility. If the bike lane is not possible, we will be labeling the roadway with the share-the-road symbols like we plan on doing with Bridge Avenue. For the portion of Route 88 east of the bridge, we know no bike lane is possible, so it will just consist of push-to-walk lighted crosswalk signs at the crosswalks and electric speed limit signs and speed feedback signs with the share the road
Symbols,” said the mayor.
“These projects are going to happen, they have been committed to by the state … our community of Point Pleasant Borough is going to drastically improve due to these projects,” said the mayor.
The cost of these projects is estimated to be around $5 million, including design, project management and construction and will take about two years to complete, according to Pannucci.
“I cannot emphasize enough what this funding is going to mean to our community. It will undoubtedly make the most densely populated municipality in Ocean County a safer place and improve our roadways for all and none of it would have been possible without the close working relationship between Mayor Sabosik, the borough council and (state) Senator (James) Holzapfel. Mayor Sabosik and the council understand the need to have a good working relationship with all levels of government in New Jersey and this latest initiative is proof of their capability and dedication to lead our town,” said Pannucci.
Sen. James Holzapfel said, “Point Pleasant Borough is a special town, and they have great leadership there. It’s no wonder people would do anything to live there and that the residents don’t want to leave. It was about time the state invested in some significant improvements to this area and I’m just happy I was able to help get this done. Public service is about making our communities better, and that’s the most important part of this job to me.”
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