Sidewalks, Bicycle Lanes Making Streets Safer In Point Pleasant

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — In 2024 Point Pleasant was awarded $5 million for sidewalks and bicycle lanes along with other safety upgrades along key streets in Point Pleasant.

Residents are seeing those projects come to fruition, as sidewalks are being installed along Herbertsville Road.

"I remember when my children had to walk to school along Herbertsville Road," Councilwoman Antoinette DePaola said Monday night as she expressed gratitude for the sidewalks being installed.

"This council has worked hard to improve the walkability of the town," Mayor Robert Sabosik said, adding those efforts will continue.

"We will make this town walkable and bikeable," he said.

Part of that includes the reduction in speed limits along River Road and on part of Bridge Avenue, which have been decreased to 30 mph.

Now that those are in place, drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians are reminded they need to obey traffic laws.

That means drivers cannot pass on the right because of the bicycle lanes. Bicyclists cannot ride on the sidewalks. Pedestrians need to use the sidewalks and cross at crosswalks.

Those who violate the laws will face punishment, Sabosik said.

"The grace period is over," Sabosik said. "We will issue tickets."

Grants totaling $3.2 million from the state Department of Transportation has been funding the projects on River Road, Herbertsville Road and Bridge Avenue, and an additional $1.8 million was directed at improvements along 2.4 miles of Route 88, said Stephen Schapiro, spokesman for the NJDOT.

The grants had come after requests from Sabosik to state Sen. James Holzapfel to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety.

When the projects were announced in 2024, Sabosik called the grants "life-changing" for Point Pleasant.

"Families and residents of all ages have to walk practically in the street to get to Riverfront Park, dealing with the cross traffic between Route 70 and Route 88," Sabosik said at the time. "For the first time ever, these roads will have a safe sidewalk for residents of those neighborhoods to walk down. It’s going to be life-changing for our town."