After months of discussion, local municipalities and the Monmouth County Freeholders are working together to create a network of bicycle/pedestrian lanes along county roads.
“There are still some details left to go over … but we’re looking to create a policy that would work for all municipalities in the county,” Fair Haven Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli said at the Borough Council’s July 20 meeting.
“Given the number of fatalities that have occurred recently, the cost of a life saved is insignificant,” Lucarelli said.
For the past several months, Lucarelli, with the support of the Two River Council of Mayors, has been spearheading the campaign for the dedicated lanes.
The goal of the informal group of local mayor is to form a continuous path that links several municipalities, including Fair Haven, Rumson, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Oceanport, Little Silver and Red Bank.
The boroughs of Fair Haven, Rumson and Little Silver will be the first to take part in the new initiative, which will focus on Rumson and Ridge roads.
“It’s a road network that we are establishing,” Lucarelli said. “The important thing about this, and why we think it works really well, is that the municipalities will have input into the context and specific nature of the bicycle/pedestrian lanes on their roads — which they know best.”
According to Lucarelli, any municipality wishing to have bicycle/pedestrian lanes will develop its own plan.
Once the plan is approved locally and by the county, the network of dedicated lanes will be designed and installed by the county through a shared-services agreement to fund 50 percent of construction costs with the municipality.
“We are going multi-jurisdictional so that municipalities won’t be going into this alone,” he said. “We are putting cost back on our municipalities … but you know the lanes are going to be done the right way, and are going to have consistency, and I think that is a real benefit in this shared-service approach.”
In an interview July 23, Freeholder Thomas Arnone said that after months of back-and-forth discussions, the new plan has benefits that satisfy both county and municipal officials.
“What this does is allows the municipality to be a stakeholder … it puts us all on the same page because we all have a stake, we’re all in this together as a team. “Sometimes you need to bide your time to ensure a plan that is beneficial for everyone,” Arnone said. “A lot of work has to go into it … but I am very exited to be a part of this and think it’ll be a huge plus for the county.”
Arnone added that the project could potentially be expanded to other municipalities.
The county has already done much of the paving on Rumson Road, but delayed striping due to the ongoing discussions about the dedicated bike lanes.
“Rumson Road is coming out to about $42,000 for the 2.8-mile section,” Lucarelli said.
He said the paving of Ridge Road is on schedule for the second week of October. According to Lucarelli, on a 30-footwide road with a 40 mph speed limit, the lane would be striped to provide a four-footwide bike lane.
“When you come to a 25-foot lane, which we have on Rumson and Ridge roads … it will go into a shared road with a … sign that will instruct everyone to share the road and, once you get back to where it is wide enough, then it goes back into the separated, designated lanes,” Lucarelli said.
“The real important thing to remember is that re-striping the roads, putting up the signs and painting the icons on the road do not grant or take away any rights or obligations that already exist now.
“All it does is communicate to the public really what those rights and obligations are, and it also gives a large area for the bicyclist/ pedestrians to feel comfortable in.”
Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl said he is looking forward to getting the program underway.
“Over the years I have had residents ask me about bike lanes, so it’s a project that I think will enjoy wide acceptance and will benefit a whole cross-section of people,” he said.
Lucarelli said he hopes the addition of the dedicated lanes will help people be more aware of sharing the roads.
“When you do something like this over a regional basis, it does raise the awareness of motorists that there are bicycle/pedestrians out there, and I think it’s shown to change the driving habits and attitudes of the people in the vehicles … and that is an important thing.”