Eight North Jersey Municipalities to Receive Complete Streets Assistance

Eight municipalities will receive up to $10,000 in technical assistance for complete streets projects ranging from workshops on walkability to bicycle network plans, conceptual designs and safety assessments, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) announced today. The municipalities selected through the competitive application process are:

• Bergen County: Hackensack City - Walkable Community Workshop

• Essex County: West Orange Township - Walkable Community Workshop

• Middlesex County: Cranbury Township - Bicycle Corridor or Network Plan

• Middlesex County: Dunellen Borough - Walkable Community Workshop

• Monmouth County: Bradley Beach Borough - Complete Streets Conceptualizations

• Somerset County: Franklin Township - Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Safety Audit and Site Assessment

• Somerset County: Manville Borough - Bicycle Corridor or Network Plan

• Union County: Garwood Borough - Bicycle Corridor or Network Plan

“This is a great program that helps advance complete streets initiatives to make roads safer for people walking, bicycling, driving and taking transit. Congratulations to the selected municipalities. I look forward to seeing them turn their complete streets visions into reality with our help,” said NJTPA Executive Director Mary D. Ameen.

Sustainable Jersey and the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University provide the technical assistance, which is financed through the NJTPA’s federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Activities include:

• Bicycle Corridor or Network Plan: Help identifying specific routes and road treatments to improve bicycling infrastructure.

• Complete Streets Conceptual Rendering: Graphic renderings to help visualize potential improvements to streetscapes or public spaces.

• Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Safety Audit and Site Assessment: A workshop and street audit to assist a municipality in assessing and understanding potential physical improvements that could help prevent crime.

• Walkable Community Workshop: A workshop and audit of up to a half-mile of street to identify potential pedestrian and bicycle improvements.

“These towns will receive valuable hands-on guidance to move their complete streets projects forward,” said Renee Haider, associate director of Sustainable Jersey. “This important work, done by our communities, contributes to our mission to create a more sustainable New Jersey.”

Complete streets are streets designed for all users, all modes of transportation and all ability levels. They balance the needs of drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, emergency responders and goods movement based on local context. “Since every municipality has different needs, we will provide technical assistance to help advance complete streets by documenting existing conditions, exploring opportunities for improvement and providing recommendations,” said Jon A. Carnegie, AICP/PP, executive director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

This is the second time the NJTPA is offering technical assistance to municipalities. Nine projects were completed in 2019 and final reports are available on NJTPA’s complete streets webpage. The NJTPA, Sustainable Jersey and VTC also conducted a series of workshops to help municipalities implement complete streets.