Hackensack leaders take steps to make streets more safe for residentsFriday, August 31, 2012
BY CAESAR DARIAS
CORRESPONDENT
Hackensack Chronicle
E-mail Hackensack officials recently passed a resolution adopting Complete Streets — a roadway safety program — as official policy.
The resolution seeks to "safely accommodate travel by pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit and motorized vehicles and their passengers, with special priority given to pedestrian safety."
Promoting Complete Streets is also the official policy of the state Department of Transportation.
According to DOT, "The policy requires that future roadway improvement projects include safe accommodations for all users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit riders and the mobility-impaired."
"It's a required first step toward gaining recognition as a Designated Transit Village," said City Manager, Stephen Lo Iacono.
The Transit Village Program is run by DOT and NJ TRANSIT.
According to DOT, "The Transit Village Initiative creates incentives for municipalities to redevelop or revitalize the areas around transit stations."
"There is no Transit Village funding now," said, Lo Iacono. "But it's hoped for in 2013."
DOT also provides grants to municipalities for Complete Streets through a "highly competitive" application process where towns accumulate points as they implement required elements.
There are 24 Transit Villages in New Jersey including one in Rutherford, the only municipality in Bergen County with the designation.
The Complete Street initiative would be a component related to the City of Hackensack Rehabilitation Plan, which seeks to transform Main Street and the surrounding area into a mixed use district where people can live, work, play, shop and enjoy a vibrant nightlife.
The city is served by the Hackensack Bus Terminal and the Anderson Street Station and Essex Street Station, both on the Pascack Valley Line.
"We hope to use them as another tool to get the rehab done," said Lo Iacono. "You want to have a situation where people can walk and not have to drive."
According to Lo Iacono, the New Jersey Institute of Technology "has been here for six months with a number of their consultants and I'm waiting for their report to determine the impact of mass transit on development."
Lo Iacono says that there's a trend: The flight to the suburbs is reversing. "People are coming back to the city everywhere. And we hope they do that here."
Email: hackensack@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6700
