By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – Residents got a look at the borough’s latest proposal to improve White Street and its public parking lot Tuesday, May 5, during a virtual public input session.
The plan is to transform the existing on-street parking to angled parking with 12 additional spaces and to revamp the adjoining public parking lot to make it safer for pedestrians and motorists. Business administrator Ziad Shehady described the location as “one of the most popular and well-visited parking lots” in Red Bank.
The goal is to begin construction in July and complete both projects by November.
“Generally speaking, the borough wants to take advantage of the downtime within the confines of the borough due to the pandemic to keep construction moving forward so that it doesn’t negatively impact the residents and the business community when some of the regulations ease up,” said Shehady.
The idea to improve White Street parking is not new. The mayor and council obtained a grant from the state Department of Transportation last year to partially fund White Street improvements. The parking lot improvements, however, are not covered by the grant and will be funded entirely by revenue from the borough’s parking utility.
The lot has fallen into “quite a bit of disrepair” over the years, said Shehady. It is not ADA compliant in parking stall size or access aisle width standards, said borough engineer Laura Neumann. The traffic flow through the lot is not well defined. It does not meet the minimum requirement of ADA parking stalls. Lighting does not meet current standards, she added.
“When we took a look at the parking lot, we looked at how best to lay it out to get not only the best yield but also the best circulation from the standpoint of both vehicles and pedestrians,” said Neumann.
The project is not just about increasing capacity, Shehady said. It’s about safety as well. In 2017, there were about 25 incidents involving motorists and/or pedestrians on White Street and in its parking lot. In 2018, that number reached 29. In 2019, it was 35.
“We hope by reducing the conflict points for traffic on the parking lot, with all the turns and the stops, that this will hopefully create a safer situation,” said Shehady.
Red Bank officials are planning to upgrade White Street and its adjoining parking lot in the next few months.
The project proposes two access points from White Street to promote a free-flow of traffic. A walkway area is proposed for the lot’s center island to safely allow pedestrians to get to the crosswalk areas. Drainage mechanisms will be implemented to make way for less impervious coverage. Parking stalls in the lot will be updated to 9-feet by 18-feet.
There will be 10 additional parking spaces in total between on-street parking and lot spaces, bringing the total to 314 spaces. The Marlboro-based Lima Charlie Construction vendor has been awarded a contract to do the work.
Over 30 residents tuned into the Zoom meeting May 5. Most residents who spoke out seemed to have positive reactions to the plan overall, but with some concerns regarding safety.
Resident Andre Bondi said that while he understands the goal of maximizing the safety within the parking lot, he has concerns about the impact it will have on traffic movement outside of the lot. He particularly took issue with the entrances and exits of the lot being two-way on the White Street side.
“I’m concerned about the risk of a collision, people going out especially at the Maple Avenue end,” he said. “If someone is coming down Maple Avenue from Water Street rather fast … there’s a risk of collision with somebody coming out” of the parking lot.
George Lyristis, a local restaurateur who owns the nearby Teak Asian Fusion, echoed a similar sentiment during public comment. He feels the White Street entrance to the lot is too close to Maple Avenue. When Count Basie is up and running and lets people out, he feels it will be congested.
Councilman Ed Zipprich asked questions about potential electric charging stations in the White Street lot. According to Neumann, she is working on having those stations in the parking lot and is reaching out to vendors to see if it is feasible.
“I think it’s an attractive area for them to want to come in, but we do plan on at least incorporating the conduit to have it run so that in the event if we can’t get the charging stations now, we at least have the ability to hook up in the future,” said Neumann. “But it’s definitely something we’re looking to incorporate.”
The article originally appeared in the May 14 – 20, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
