---

The New Jersey Department of Transportation [NJDOT] has awarded Asbury Park a Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Assistance grant that will pave the way for safer streets for all who use the city’s roadways.

The state grant program offers municipalities technical assistance and lends recommendations to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and access within a study area.

City Manager Michael Capabianco said while there is no exchange of funds, the grant is a program that will help fund consulting services for the purposes of producing a planning study. The DOT will assign an on-call consultant to aid the city with its engineering and other technical needs.

While the city applied for the grant program in March of 2016, it worked continually with NJDOT over the past year to obtain this technical assistance, Capabianco said.

“The biggest reason why NJDOT did not award the City a grant earlier was their perception [that] the City had no interest improving bike or pedestrian safety,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. There were outside organizations and staff within NJDOT that simply could not believe the City was progressive in trying to increase safety. This perception led to the delay.”

Capabianco said while the award came in March, the NJDOT needed time to process the paperwork before the official announcement.

In March, the City and NJDOT met at NJDOT’s offices in Trenton to discuss all things transportation related in the City.

“We were able to finally have all the decision makers in a room and discuss what the City and NJDOT is doing, how we can further our partnerships and continue to make investments within the City to make it safer for all modes of transportation,” said Mayor John Moor, who called the meeting a success.

Also in attendance, was Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, who said being able to sit in a room with NJDOT was incredibly helpful.

“We were able to tell their entire staff that the City takes pedestrian and bicyclist safety seriously, and have hired a Transportation Manager, applied to be a transit village designation, and participated in the Street Smart Pedestrian Safety Education Campaign. The City is committed to consistently making decisions with pedestrian and bicycle safety at the forefront.”

WSP Engineering has been assigned to serve as the city’s Planning consultant, Capabianco said. Over the next few months the they will begin the process of drafting a comprehensive City Bike and Pedestrian Study.

———————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---