Jersey City to get 54 miles of new bike lanes

Saying he was taking a great idea being used in other locales and inspired by the city's youth movement Mayor Jerramiah Healy late last week said some 54.7 miles of new bike lanes were coming to our fair city.

“There’s a new movement,” he said. “It’s a new goal and we thank a lot of our new people who have come to Jersey City in the last 10 to 15 years and their youth and their energy and their ideas. We know they’ve done it in Newark and it’s being done in Hoboken and we’re going to do it here in Jersey City.”

The 54.7 miles of designated bike paths will include 35.2 miles of bike lanes and 19.5 miles of shared lanes marked with “sharrows” arrows (no doubt where most of the accidents will happen but we digress).

A great idea, we do wonder why it took looking at the success of other cities' bike lanes, but it is more important Jersey City (recently voted a top walking city in the USA) provides to the non-car/truck environmentally responsible commute with those wishing to enjoy a more environmentally friendly commute. Healy also said local businesses would get a break on buying bike racks for their stores.

Everyone seems to be on board thus far with glowing reviews for the idea especially from the State Department of Transportation:

“The bike lane and bike sharrow program is essential, not only for the city but for the state,” said Sheree Davis, of the state Department of Transportation. “We commend Jersey City for actually implementing this and putting their money where their mouth is.”