Petition richtet sich an: Board of Hudson County Commissioners

Urgent message from the community: the River Road project is hurting, not helping our neighborhood. PLEASE do NOT remove an important lane on River Road (an already constrained MAIN transportation artery for Port Imperial residents).

In just a few weeks, we have seen:

• Severe congestion and what will be the PERMANENT loss of crucial turning lanes that bring traffic to a complete standstill, throughout the day, not just during rush hours
• Compromised safety for all users - drivers swerving around bottlenecks, buses stopping mid-lane without space to pull over, all in an already high-stress, high-traffic corridor

We all value safe and sustainable transportation, including biking. But this approach is simply not serving that goal. Installing a short, disjointed bike lane at the expense of the main artery for tens of thousands of residents and commuters is, respectfully, the wrong solution in the wrong place.

Local residents have identified major safety risks that are both occurring now (during construction) but will also become permanent once completed:

• in cases of flooding, it will be even more difficult to leave the area (and for safety crews to get in) + if the road is flooded, there are now concrete obstacles (which will not be visible to drivers if the water level is high)
• NJ Transit customers who are taking the bus now need to avoid getting hit by bikes as they cross over the bike lane to enter the bus
• swerving cars when someone is making a turn (one lane slows down when a driver needs to make a turn due to the lack of turning lane. Because one lane slows, drivers "swing" out into the moving lane, this guarantees future accidents)
• no dedicated turning lanes (more dangerous to turn) 
• safer alternatives for bikes (even with new bike lanes) closer to river + the bike lane is so short it’s pointless
• extreme congestion in front of a hospital (not to be overly dramatic but this may directly lead to deaths)
• motorized bikes will be using the bike lane creating additional hazards to pedestrians
• more and more buildings continue to be constructed, which will further exacerbate all of the above once those residents (and their cars) are added to the River Road population

By building a bike “safety” lane (also being nicknamed by local residents as the "bike lane to nowhere"), literally every group is less safe (including the cyclists). 

We are asking you to halt further construction immediately and initiate a course-correction before the situation becomes permanent. Specifically in the short run:

1. What steps can we take together, residents and elected officials, to end and reverse this project?

As residents, we are asking for a livable, safe River Road that works for everyone who depends on it. An incorrect project should not dictate our future. It is critical that we pivot now rather than to live with a mistake for decades.

We appreciate your immediate attention and look forward to hearing how our community’s only north–south artery will be made safe and operational again.