Look forward, not backward, on Boulevard East plan | Jersey Journal editorial

The Boulevard East road redesign project in North Hudson is taking a wrong turn by eliminating bike lanes in any form from the plan in order to maximize parking spots.

To be sure, driving throughout North Hudson is especially frustrating, as is parking.

So, we get that the mayors and county commissioners representing Weehawken, North Bergen, Guttenberg and West New York are sensitive to the plight of constituents who are often stuck in traffic and find themselves circling and circling to find that elusive spot.

But, as leaders, they also need to have their minds set on charting future courses.

It’s not as if people are clamoring to turn Boulevard East with its skyline views into a pedestrians-only waterfront promenade -- although, really, wouldn’t that be glorious?

No. The most extreme idea under consideration was to add a protected bike lane that would eliminate some, not all, of the parking spots along the 2.5-mile road while adding a layer of safety for bike riders.

Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner and members of the Bike Weehawken group had come up with a compromise idea to have a marked, unprotected bike lane, but that didn’t make it into the most recent pass at the plan.

Instead, angled parking that will maximize the number of spots was included, which leaves us scratching our heads for a number of reasons.

First, those relatively few spots in a region with more than 100,000 residents won’t make a dent in the problem.

Second, having cars backing out of those angled spots is counterintuitive when considering traffic safety.

And, third, it’s a wasted opportunity to implement something forward-looking.

Between population growth and climate change, North Hudson officials should be thinking about ways to encourage greener travel and public transportation and not just try to appease today’s drivers.

As the design phase of the Boulevard East project continues, we encourage these leaders to take this opportunity to, well, lead.

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