Point Boro Accepted into Complete Streets Program

The idea of a complete street is one that is available to multiple modes of transportation, not just driving in a car, but walking and riding a bicycle.   

In Point Pleasant Borough, however, the streets are anything but complete.

At its council meeting Tuesday night, councilman and cycling enthusiast Chris Leitner announced the town’s acceptance into a State Department of Transportation (DOT) program aimed at making New Jersey’s roadways more accessible for all, not just drivers.

According to Leitner, the bicycle and pedestrian planning assistance program will help Point Pleasant create a comprehensive plan – on the state’s dime – which theoretically will put the town in position for future transportation grant funding that makes walking and bike riding easier and more safe.

“Making the borough walkable and bike-able has always been sort of a passion for me,” Leitner said. “It kills me that you can’t bike down Bridge Avenue without taking your own life in your hands.”

The program is part of NJDOT’s Bureau of Commuter and Mobility Strategies and includes surveying, planning, and engineer work. The borough, along with DOT and a consultant, will target specific areas that could benefit from the program, including heavily trafficked intersections, the town’s schools and parks, as well as popular shopping and dining areas in Point Pleasant.

Improvements could include adding bike lanes, installing sharrows, or even something as simple as more visible signage. Sharrows (in photo) are short-hand for “shared lane pavement markings” that indicate that motorists and cyclists are to share the travel lane.

Eventually, the state will present the borough with a plan, which the town can then use as it seeks funding for transportation projects. The outcome presents “a great potential leap forward in our attempts to make the borough more bike and pedestrian friendly,” he said.

Leitner said the state has not provided an estimate as to when work will begin and how long with will take after it has, though he promised to maintain pressure on the DOT to come up with a schedule.

Eventually, he hopes, Point Pleasant will be able to claim some of its own streets as complete.