Protected Bike Lane From Jersey City To Hoboken Completed

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A new protected bikeway with flexible bollards will make it easier for people to bike between the southern border of Hoboken and Jersey City.

Mayors in Hoboken and Jersey City announced on Monday the completion of the lane along Marin Boulevard and Henderson Street, connecting 18th Street in Jersey City to Observer Highway in Hoboken.

The connection is the latest Vision Zero initiative to create safer streets and eliminate traffic deaths and injuries in both cities. (See statistics on traffic deaths in Jersey City and Hoboken here.)

The bikeway has flexible bollards, a high-visibility traffic separator curb, and Endurablend surfaces to provide high visibility and traction.

In the last few years, bike enthusiasts have expressed concerns that some bikeways encourage people to use them but don't provide enough safety, such as an instance in which a woman was killed on a bike path in Washington D.C. this year.

Local bike advocates praised the local move.

“For years, cyclists traveling between Jersey City and Hoboken faced dangerous and intimidating roadway conditions to reach their destinations,” added Ayla Schermer, President of Bike JC.

“We applaud Hoboken, Jersey City, and Hudson County for installing this much needed protected bike lane to connect our cities,” said Chris Adair of Bike Hoboken.

“Jersey City and Hoboken are among the most unique and busiest transportation hubs in the country, and this new bikeway linking our two cities is the latest step in expanding Jersey City’s growing network of protected bikeways to provide greater connectivity and safety for our residents and beyond,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.

“Hoboken is committed to creating safer streets for all modes of transportation, and this protected bikeway is the latest example of that,” said Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.

They say the route "will yield a safe, and accessible option for bicycle riders who travel between Jersey City and Hoboken daily to reach major public transportation hubs, places of employment, as well as shopping and dining destinations."

Last year, Jersey City and Hoboken partnered to launch a unified bike share system with Lyft’s Citi Bike to provide better connectivity between the two communities.

Since the partnership launched in 2021, users have taken over 180,329 rides between both cities, accounting for 13 percent of total ridership, the cities say.

"Creating protected bike lanes is a proven way to keep people safe and to reduce traffic violence, especially for people who set out on foot, on transit, on Citi Bike — or all three," said Laura Fox, General Manager of Citi Bike at Lyft.

In addition to the protected bikeway, the project also incorporates improvements for pedestrians and drivers including the repainting of high-visibility crosswalks, as well as new extended turn lanes onto Newark Street and Observer Highway in Hoboken. The extended turning lanes will increase queuing capacity along Marin Boulevard and Henderson Street when entering Hoboken, which is expected to provide a small improvement in traffic flow.

These Vision Zero improvements seek to remove the corridor from Hoboken’s and Jersey City’s High Crash Networks as identified in each respective city’s Vision Zero Action Plans. Jersey City and Hoboken are two of the only municipalities in New Jersey to have adopted Vision Zero initiatives.