Hoboken Mayor To Suez: ‘Ease The Pain’ After Weekend Traffic Woes

HOBOKEN, NJ — Suez has until 9 a.m. on Wednesday to a come up with a plan that will “ease the pain” after a weekend of traffic woes in southwest Hoboken. And if the utility provider doesn’t, Mayor Ravinder Bhalla said that he has no problem shutting down the water meter improvement project that caused the problems.

On Monday, Bhalla said that the city encountered “serious traffic issues” in southwest Hoboken as a result an underground water meter improvement project by Suez Water last weekend.

City officials announced road closures for the project at Harrison and Newark streets on Friday, warning residents that they should “plan ahead and give yourself extra time when traveling.”

The mayor issued the following statement about the traffic issues that resulted:

“I was extremely frustrated, as I know many of you were, with the congestion. First, I would like to commend the Hoboken Police Department for going above and beyond in mitigating the traffic issues to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, other jurisdictions fell far short on their obligations to public safety, which caused the incredibly frustrating backups. First thing Monday morning, I met with all of Hoboken’s internal stakeholders, including Business Administrator Stephen Marks, City Construction Manager Peter Balnius, City Engineer Kimberli Craft, Transportation and Parking Director Ryan Sharp, OEM Coordinator Sgt. William Montanez, Sgt. Christopher LaBruno, Lt. James Marnell, Deputy Chief of Staff Jason Freeman, and Communications Manager Santiago Melli-Huber. Our goal was to address the future impact of this project, which is scheduled to take place over the next several weekends. What happened this past weekend is simply not acceptable, and I made that clear to Suez Water in no uncertain terms.”

Bhalla continued:

“To that end, I’ve given Suez by Wednesday at 9 a.m. to present to me a traffic management plan that will ease the pain for Hoboken residents and visitors. If their plan is not acceptable, I am prepared to shut down their project to protect the safety and welfare of Hoboken residents. My ultimate priority is the safety and well-being of Hoboken residents and I will do everything in my power to make sure that what happened this past weekend, does not happen again.”

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Photo: City of Hoboken