Bike Hoboken

­­­About 20 community members came out to the Multi-Service Center tonight for the Parking & Transportation subcommittee bicycle plan meeting. Traffic engineer Ian Sacs gave a presentation for a comprehensive bicycle plan for the city that would include bike lanes, bike parking, traffic enforcement, safety and public awareness components.

Below is a draft version of the proposed layout of bike lanes and bike racks. ­Only Class II and III bicycle lanes are proposed, meaning only some paint will be needed to make the adjustments. Class II lanes where a strip of paint is used to delineate a lane for bikes on the left hand side of the road are proposed on wider streets including Madison St, Grand St, Sinatra Dr and northern portions of Park Ave and Garden St. The left hand side is preferred because it is safer for bicyclists since parked driver side car doors are 3 times more likely to open than passenger side doors. For more narrow roads, class III lanes would be used where “sharrows” (see image on right) would remind drivers that the road is to be shared with bicycle riders.

Although bicyclists have the same right to the road as cars, the plan creates a grid of designated bike routes designed to raise awareness of drivers, thus creating a safer environment for both bike riders and drivers. Park Ave and Madison St are designated routes running north from Observer Highway to 15th St while Grand St and Garden St run parallel in the south-bound direction. East-west bike corridors conecting to the light rail stops are proposed at 3rd & 4th and 8th & 9th along with another pair at 12th & 13th.

Since part of the purpose is to encourage more people to bike within Hoboken, more heavily trafficked roads like Washington St or Observer Hwy were not included in the proposal. Bike racks are also proposed all along Washington St, 1st Ave, at the PATH and Light Rail stops at 2nd and 9th streets. A draft of the proposal is below.

Draft Hoboken Bicycle Plan by Ian Sacs & Jacob Mason ­(click for larger version)

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