Help us bring awareness and fact-based knowledge to the public. A clear lane for emergency vehicles. A left hand turning lane. Safer traffic flow. Quicker bus transit. Safe routes to school. An improved corridor for businesses. A safer road design on a street with crash rates that are among the highest in the city.

These types of changes are possible for Grand Street. The Grand Street Concept Development is the next phase in an open, public process to bring the entire length of Grand into the 21st century. The primary goal is to make this corridor safer for all users: pedestrians, mass transit users, motorists and yes, those of us who use a bicycle.

Presently Grand Street is dangerous. Vehicles are often traveling well over the speed limit. Pedestrians are struck by cars. Most cyclists are scared to ride on it. Access into Jersey City Medical Center can sometimes be a challenge. Businesses wish for more foot traffic.

Solutions to these problems are presented in the Concept Development. Over the past eight years Bike JC has advocated for safer cycling in our city, and we selected Grand Street because of its poor safety record and because it connects so many neighborhoods, everyone wants to use it but it's design screams, CARS ONLY!

Speed data was collected from the corridor to discover the average was between 35 & 40 mph, well over the citywide limit of 25 mph. We brought this information along with some rough design ideas to the council and they unanimously agreed that something must be done. What the city has done is to hire an engineering firm called Stantec to study the corridor and make design suggestions for a safer Grand Street and a company called Fitzgerald & Halliday to conduct public outreach. The Concept Development is the result of their work.

Suggested safety improvement designs include a center turning lane that will keep traffic flowing in a more orderly and efficient manner as well as the added benefit of an open lane down the middle of the road to allow emergency vehicles to get to their destinations more quickly. Pedestrian safety improvements, protected bike

lanes and improved mass transit are all possible.

To get a complete understanding of this safety design, please go to our website at BikeJC.org and watch the embedded video on the right side of the page. Follow us on social media for announcements of public outreach opportunities where you can join in this democratic process to modernize Grand Street.

Patrick Conlon, BikeJC, Jersey City