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The Asbury Park City Council has moved forward with a number initiatives aimed at improving how all those who use the city’s roads can traverse safely. Below is a snapshot from Transportation Manager Michael Manzella [below right] on what has been accomplished thus far and what is on the horizon:

Road Improvements

The City has paved the following streets in 2017 and 2018 [project costs are approximate]

• Washington Avenue [$720k]

• Prospect Avenue [$322k]

• Park Avenue [$750k]

• Steiner Place between Fourth and Fifth Avenues [$120k]

• Cookman Avenue between Memorial Drive and Langford Street [$199k]

• Sunset Avenue including sewer replacement, traffic signal and bike lanes [$1.05 million]

• Fourth Avenue including sewer replacement and bike lanes [$1.78 million]

• Webb Street [$63k]

• 200 Block of Sixth and Seventh Avenues [$85k]

• Springwood Avenue between Memorial Drive and Main Street including sewer replacement [$820k]

• Bergh Street between Asbury and First Avenues [$30]

Upcoming Projects:

• Bridge Street (Fall 2018)

• Heck Street (Fall 2018)

• Deal Lake Drive between Park Avenue and the City Line [Spring 2019]

• The City will be applying for 2019 Municipal Aid for Memorial Drive between Asbury and Sixth avenues

Meters

• All 118 of the parking pay stations have been replaced [as of April] with new pay stations from the IPS Group. The results have been good so far with far less downtime and a much higher rate of credit card payments [85%]. Credit card transactions take less than a minute on average [the previous system took several minutes, on average].  The mobile parking app has also grown in usage to over 20% of all parking transactions.

Traffic Calming & Safety

This summer, the City striped high-visibility no-parking zones, stop bars and crosswalks at 28 intersections to improve overall safety.

The purpose of the yellow-hatched no-parking zones are to make drivers aware of the permissible parking from crosswalks and STOP signs, as well as to ‘daylight’ the intersections for pedestrians, enhancing their safety, Manzella said.

The City adopted an ordinance decreasing the parking distance from a STOP sign from 50 feet to 25 feet, in accordance with State statutes, which will create additional parking spaces. The distance of the yellow curb from STOP signs are in the process of being updated.

Third & Fourth Avenue Concerns

• Fourth Avenue was recently paved and striped using all accepted engineering design standards and Complete Streets guidelines for calming traffic and providing bicycle facilities, Manzella said.

• The City is applying for Safe Routes to School Funding for further traffic calming measures on Third and Fourth Avenues, since the Bradley School is located along Third Avenue, he said.  

• Speed trailers have been positioned on both streets, and the data indicates that the average and 85th percentile speeds do not exceed acceptable standards.  

• Enhanced enforcement has been deployed along Fourth Avenue and the surrounding streets.

Main Street Road Diet

• The NJDOT is reportedly ahead of schedule on the $19 million improvements to the state-owned Main Street.  Utility relocation is ongoing, concrete work, which includes curb ramps and sidewalks, started at the north end of the project and has reached Fifth Avenue.

• Traffic signal installation [17 of them] has just begun at the north end.

• The Deal Lake Drive portion of Route 71 is expected to be paved by year’s end

• The entire stretch of Main Street is expected to be completed by late 2019.

“It is important to understand that any project of this magnitude on a busy commercial corridor is going to be disruptive,” Manzella said. “When it is complete, the City will have new streets, sidewalks, and traffic signals for our Main Street.”

General Updates

• The traffic signal at Springwood Avenue and Atkins Avenue has been replaced. Manzella said the light is fully compliant and features a pedestrian countdown timer and multiple signal heads in each direction. 

• Bus service from NJ TRANSIT along Springwood Avenue is expected to launch in September, with a bus stop located at the Atkins Avenue intersection.

• The City has installed additional bike racks and corrals.

• The NJDOT funded Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is nearing completion with final recommendations being reviewed in September. The Planning Board will vet the plan for inclusion in the City’s Master Plan this Fall. The City will apply for NJDOT Bikeways grant funding to implement some of the final recommendations of the plan.

Bike Share Update

• Since Memorial Day, nearly 2,500 bike share trips have been taken, which exceeds the roughly 2,000 trips taken during the first 9 months of the program.

• On the Fourth of July, 98 trips were taken, which equates to more than two trips for each of the system’s 40 bikes

“The program has exceeded expectations and we are always looking for more sponsors to expand the system’s reach,” Manzella said.

Electric Car Sharing

• Contract negotiations are still underway. The City anticipates the infrastructure work will be installed in the Fall.

Valet Parking

• The City is still evaluating options to store parked cars. 

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