By Chris Rotolo
RED BANK – There is an eye-catching paint job at the bustling intersection of S. Bridge Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard, located amid a convenience store, Detour Framing, Lunch Break and the Red Bank branch of the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County.
The rectangular space defined by the system of crosswalks at the intersection has been colored mint green with a large golden sun painted in the center.
The artwork is part of the borough’s ongoing “tactical urbanism” project, a creative means to help “ease traffic and make that area work better,” said council-woman Kate Triggiano.
The colorful painting is meant to call motorists’ attention to the intersection, and the borough’s project proposal document indicates there are similar plans in store for the intersection of White Street and Broad Street.
Tactical urbanism is a term used to describe low-cost projects that are quickly completed with the intention to create both aesthetic and safety improvements to a neighborhood or a municipality. These projects allow communities to test new concepts with a small budget to create a path toward permanent infrastructure upgrades.
Ziad Shehady, the borough administrator, said the project is “intended to be temporary and a trial to solicit feedback, gauge effectiveness and learn what best benefits the street’s users.”
Shehady added that the project is not limited to painting the pavement. Cones have also been placed near the intersection to discourage motorists from parking too close to the corners, which can create impaired lines of sight.
Triggiano noted the project is being funded by a $10,000 technical services grant awarded to the borough’s environmental commission by Sustainable Jersey, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing municipalities and school systems with tools, training and financial incentives to support sustainability programs.
The project is part of Red Bank’s ongoing “complete streets” effort, Triggiano said, and the initiatives is supported by the greater Complete Streets Technical Assistance Program, a collaborative venture between Sustainable Jersey, the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.
These projects can vary in size, scope and budget. They often begin as grassroots initiatives that are later adopted by municipalities. Some common tactical urbanism projects include the use of food carts, trucks or stands to attract people to underutilize public spaces, much like last May when the borough granted a two-year concession license to Park Jam, a gourmet fresh foods eatery located in the outdoor seating section of Riverside Gardens Park.
“Chair bombing,” the act of using salvageable materials to build public seating, “de-paving” or transforming old driveways and parking spaces into public green space and “pavement to plazas,” which involves converting space on streets or in parking lots into usable public space, like the pedestrian seating planned for a little-used alleyway in Red Bank’s English Plaza lot leading to West Front Street, are all common forms of tactical urbanism.
Graduate students from the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers will collect data from the sites, report the findings and make recommendations about expansion to other borough sites, as well as permanent infrastructure improvements.
