McQueen in favor of bump-outs
'Why are we shirking pedestrians in favor of automobiles?'
Editor, Asbury Park Sun,
Recently, the Asbury Park City Council declined to approve a proposal from master waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial to add additional curb extensions, or “bump-outs”, to intersections along Kingsley Avenue in Asbury Park. However, city officials should take another look at the benefits of these valuable, pedestrian-friendly amenities.
City officials provided a number of reasons for balking on bump-outs, including: they are incompatible with James Bradley’s layout of the city; they present increased costs; and they may impede emergency vehicles. However, none of these rationales hold water.
First, James Bradley designed Asbury Park’s streets to flare at their eastern end for the purpose of moving cool ocean air further inland. This is an admirable design feature. Yet airflow is unaffected by the addition of curb extensions which are eight inches high. Further, Bradley designed these streets long before automobiles dominated our landscape. Surely he couldn’t have imagined cars careening around our corners at 40 mph. Deputy Mayor Sue Henderson has apparently stated that she prefers wide, automobile–dominated swaths of blacktop to safer, greener and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. Bradley would disagree with Henderson today.
Second, the developer will pay for the increased capital cost of this desirable amenity. Istar has presented ideas for funding the ongoing maintenance of landscaped bump-out areas. If this isn’t an example of this city looking a gift horse in the mouth, then I’ve never seen one. Nevertheless, most urban amenities cost more than having no amenities at all: trees, streetlights, benches, etc., are normally considered good urban investments rather than expenses. Bump-outs are likewise a bargain in this instance.
Finally, fire officials have expressed concern about maneuvering emergency vehicles around streets with bump-outs. Yet we have not seen any objective analyses of the required turn radius of our fire trucks being incompatible with the proposed extended curb line. A properly designed bump-out extends into the parking lane but does not impede the travel lane. The radius of an extended curb can be adjusted to match the required radius of fire trucks. Our fire department employs trained, professional drivers who regularly drive on city streets that are tighter than what is proposed here. Also, certainly the tires and suspensions on our emergency vehicles are capable of negotiating an 8-inch curb, if need be.
Bump-outs are used successfully in countless progressive-minded, pedestrian-friendly communities worldwide and are a check on automobile-dominated spaces. Notably, the Asbury Park master plan states that one of our goals is to create a pedestrian-friendly environment. The initial Kingsley Avenue bump-outs have been a tremendous improvement, and the design of bump-outs can be modified to accommodate most contingencies including stormwater, bicycles, landscaping and emergency vehicles.
My ears go up when someone says, “That might work everywhere else, but it won’t work here.” Usually this is not true and there is some other agenda at play. We already have a parking problem, so why are we shirking pedestrians in favor of automobiles?
[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]
