Update: Washington Street Paving Progress for Hoboken Residents and Visitors

The City of Hoboken on Monday updated the scope of Washington Street to only include from Observer Highway to 1st Street due to changes in the forecast calling for potentially cold weather later this week.

From Observer Highway to 1st Street Washington Street has been milled and is ready
for paving and striping weather permitting as of 12-5-2017.

Update From the City of Hoboken 12-4-2017: Due to the forecast for cold weather later in the week which reduces the amount of time during which paving and striping can take place, the extent of the work has been reduced from 4 blocks to 2 blocks (from Observer Highway to 1st Street).

Original Message:

Milling and paving of four blocks of Washington Street between Observer Highway and 3rd Street is scheduled to take place the week of December 4th, weather permitting. Expected hours of operation are 8:00am to 7:30pm. Efforts will be made to maintain vehicular traffic where possible, however road closures will be required at times.

During construction, NJ Transit buses will operate on a detour. Buses heading toward Hoboken Terminal will travel south along Washington Street, detour east on 5th Street, and south on Hudson Street. Buses heading towards New York will leave the bus terminal from Observer Highway, turn north on Bloomfield Street, turn east on 5th Street, and continue north on Washington Street along the regular route.

To facilitate bus detours, parking will be prohibited on both sides of 5th Street between Bloomfield Street and Hudson Street as well as on both sides of Bloomfield Street near Observer Highway and Hudson Street near 5th Street. Police will be on hand to help direct traffic.

My Update and Commentary:

The third baseline for this project (communicated at a 2016 City Council meeting) had the full completion of this project finished up to 8th and Washington Street by Election Day 2017. Needless to say this project has been severely delayed and appears to be at least 6 months behind schedule given lack of progress to date. Most portions of this project are absolutely necessary and the infrastructure improvements below ground as well as at the street level are worth the inconvenience in the long run. The only debate that I consistently hear on the street is over the bump outs from the residents I have spoken to. Most I have spoken to feel they are unnecessary even if it is shown that they improve pedestrian safety. They are concerned about effect on traffic and many feel the cross walk lights planned to be sufficient.The perception is that the bump outs are the main cause for the additional delays in project completion. Whether or not that is true or not, the perception is there.

The limitations on the window for paving asphalt are very real. The City of Hoboken is trying to take advantage of unseasonably warm weather to try and at least play a little catch up. After all, Mayor Zimmer and her Administration has been criticized and rightly so for the mismanagement of this project from controlling the vendor to proper project communication. Here is a chart from a private sector site showing the minimum temperatures for asphalt paving...

Temperature Limitations for Asphalt Paving

There are also temperature minimums for road striping and concrete as well that have to be taken into consideration.

Below are some photos that show uncompleted bump outs. The questions remain whether we will get 4 streets or just 2 done before the winter temperatures finally hit. The other concern is whether bump outs already in progress will be addressed before the winter shutdown.

Not everyone is a fan of the "Bhalla bumpouts" - Zimmer's big idea
(Ravi is Zimmer's anointed replacement and elected with less than a third of the popular vote)

Will this be done before winter break?

I am hopeful, for the sake of Washington Street business owners, residents and visitors that the weather cooperates and they are able to finish all four planned blocks up to 3rd Street. It would really help the downtown area.

In my opinion Mayor Elect Bhalla should fire whoever is managing this project now, establish a new realistic baseline and then hold that project manager accountable for the new deadlines. Hoboken needs this project to get back on track and managed of whole lot better than what has been so far.

Hoboken New Holiday Street Decorations Adding Festive Feel to Beleaguered Washington Street

At the behest of the The Hoboken Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, the City of Hoboken set aside $50,000 for new holiday decorations for this year. The new lights can be seen on Washington Street as of early this week. I spoke with a member of the Chamber and they were disappointed that the holiday decorations were not up in time for Small Business Saturday but they were happy to see them at least up now.

Joyce Flinn, VP on The Hoboken Chamber of Commerce is said to have been a leading advocate for these new decorations in addition to the group as a whole. She is the wife of Eugene Flinn who runs the Elysian Cafe and Schnackenburgs restaurants in Hoboken. The Elysian Cafe has a history of doing nice holiday decorations of their own.

Several people I spoke to like the new lights and consider them an improvement over prior years. The next logical question for this watchdog is did these lights cost the whole $50,000? I doubt it so hopefully we will either see more decorations or someone patting themselves on the back for saving money for the City of Hoboken.

New Holiday lights on Washington Street

Milling and Paving Scheduled for Week of December 4th on Portion of Washington Street

Here is an update from the City of Hoboken on Washington Street. This project was originally supposed to be completed up to 8th Street by election day of this year (after several adjustments of the project baseline prior). It looks like Hoboken is taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to get some paving in before the winter shuts down major work on this project. Someone must have also done a decent job of accumulating asphalt because usually by this time of year the manufacturers of the material stopping making it until the spring.

This project has had its detractors (including me) in the way it has been handled but at least if they can get a few blocks done before the holidays that would finally be some tangible progress. Earlier this year when I was contemplating a run for City Council this year I remarked how Washington Street was worse than the streets of Bosnia during its civil war. The person who was signing my petition drove a Humvee as part of his military service and agreed with me since he actually driven on the roads of Bosnia during the conflict. True story.

Milling and Paving Scheduled for Week of December 4th on 

Portion of Washington Street

From City of Hoboken Showing Bus Detours and Scope of Paving on Washington Street

Milling and paving of four blocks of Washington Street between Observer Highway and 3rd Street is scheduled to take place the week of December 4th, weather permitting. Expected hours of operation are 8:00am to 7:30pm. Efforts will be made to maintain vehicular traffic where possible, however road closures will be required at times.

During construction, NJ Transit buses will operate on a detour. Buses heading toward Hoboken Terminal will travel south along Washington Street, detour east on 5th Street, and south on Hudson Street. Buses heading towards New York will leave the bus terminal from Observer Highway, turn north on Bloomfield Street, turn east on 5th Street, and continue north on Washington Street along the regular route.

To facilitate bus detours, parking will be prohibited on both sides of 5th Street between Bloomfield Street and Hudson Street as well as on both sides of Bloomfield Street near Observer Highway and Hudson Street near 5th Street. Police will be on hand to help direct traffic.