By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – A million-dollar state grant received by the borough in 2019 that fueled plans to improve Shrewsbury Avenue is now set for a 2025 completion. Preliminary site plans of the project were on display for public review and comment at a two-hour walk-in session held at the borough’s senior center Nov. 20.
Borough officials hosted the first public information session on the Shrewsbury Avenue Streetscape Improvement Program (SASIP) with site plans highlighting the proposed changes for the busy corridor.
Red Bank received the grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) and the project is now at the tail-end of its preliminary design phase.
Jason Besz, principal engineer with GPI (Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.), shared details of the project which is a collaboration among the borough, the county and the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Planned improvements to Shrewsbury Avenue would take place between Monmouth Street at Newman Springs Road (County Road 520) at the borough’s southern border. The road width ranges from 34 to 45 feet along that stretch, with street parking on both sides of the road. Sidewalks run along both sides of the street. Curb ramps have been installed at intersections throughout the corridor, however not all are ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant.
The entire stretch has a speed limit of 30 mph, but it is still “a very dangerous road,” council member Ben Forest told The Two River Times at the public input session. Forest, who has been a resident of Red Bank since 1996, joked he’s been “run over” numerous times on the road. He noted there are a “lot of people on the West Side who don’t have cars. There’s a lot of people who walk and ride their bike to school. So, it is going to be a stress point.”
The “goal” of the project is to make the “major walking corridor” on the West Side “more equitable,” Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano told The Two River Times. The vision is to create “traffic calming measures,” like curb extensions (bump-outs) to make the road more “user-friendly” and easier to navigate for pedestrians, particularly children and seniors.
The project will incorporate streetscape elements and measures such as bump-outs which will shorten the length of pedestrian crossings across Shrewsbury Avenue. It will also include better crosswalks and signage at intersections along Shrewsbury Avenue to provide improved sight- lines for pedestrians to see oncoming traffic and for oncoming traffic to see pedestrians. Additionally, the project will also include the installation of flashing LED lighting, trees, street signs, benches and trash receptacles to encourage pedestrian and bike usage.
Two small rain gardens will provide landscaped areas as an aesthetic improvement that will also provide bioretention to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff.
Residents reviewed all the project information, engaged with borough officials and representatives of GPI and submitted comments on survey forms at the public review session.
Many were concerned about the safety, aesthetics, culture and future of Shrewsbury Avenue.
“I want them to prioritize pedestrian safety and bike safety provision because it’s not safe now,” said resident Patty White.
“Currently there is only one light at Drs. James Parker Boulevard” and a lot of them at other intersections “don’t work,” said Mark Gregory, who lives near Shrewsbury Avenue. He said he is “constantly crossing Shrewsbury Avenue” with his children and worries about their safety.
He said the project needs to include bike lanes and more waste receptacles, noting the garbage cans available now are “scattered and the reality is anything that doesn’t go into garbage – if it makes its way into the sewer systems or down the streets – goes right into the Swimming River and the Navesink River.”
Besz expects the preliminary design phase will be complete by early 2024. The final design with borough council approval is expected by early 2025 and construction is slated to begin by spring 2025.
The article originally appeared in the November 30 – December 6, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
