Jersey City is moving forward with a contentious bike lane proposal to modify street infrastructure safety measures on Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street. The resolution, backed by a 5-3-1 vote, brings a step toward improving street safety in the Heights neighborhood.
Under the proposed plan’s designs, Manhattan Avenue will remain a two-way street, while Franklin Street will transition into a one-way road with an added protected bike lane.
The proposed design would include the following street improvement items:
- Key Sheet (1 sheet)
- Estimate & Distribution of Quantities (1 sheet)
- Typical Sections (2 sheets)
- Construction Plans (4 sheets)
- Traffic Signing and Striping Plans (4 sheets)
- Construction Details (3 sheets)
- Traffic Control & Detour Plans (8 sheets)
- Roadway Lighting Plans (4 sheets) (If Required)
The total grant funding for the bike lane design project amounts to $670,000 from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), supplemented by an additional $162,000 in engineering costs. The city has awarded the engineering contract to French and Parrello Associates, who will oversee the design work for the protected bike lanes.
Additionally, a left-turn signal is slated to be installed at Manhattan Avenue and Tonnelle Avenue through a separate state grant. The initial design proposal would have required each street to be converted into one-way streets, allowing bicyclists to travel across the neighborhood from Palisades Avenue on the East side of town to Tonnelle on the West side.
“We can’t just be about cars or bicycles. We need to compromise,” said Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh in the council meeting last week, asking if the plans presented by the city took into account the meetings held with residents and community members for the past eight months, referring to the design as a compromise.
“These changes were requested,” said Mike Manzella, who is the city’s director of the Division of Transportation, at the city council meeting last week. “We are already under the gun, in terms of timeline,” referring to the proposed bike lane.
Last year, Jersey City launched a pilot program to test the viability of installing the city’s proposed protected bike lanes on both streets. The results of the public survey found that 93 percent of those who bike or scoot and 68 percent of those who walk or roll supported the project – 90 percent of businesses on Central Avenue between Manhattan Avenue and Sherman Place would approve the project with visible window signage.
“Bike JC is thankful to the City Council for voting to move forward with the resolution to allow the Department of Infrastructure to contract engineering work,” said Tyler Newcomb, a cyclist and a board member at Bike JC, a bike activist organization.
“While we are disappointed that the resolution may leave valuable grant money on the table and won’t add a protected bike lane to the entire length of the corridor, we are excited to see progress on what will be the first protected bike lane in the Heights, which will improve mobility options and safety for thousands of Heights residents.”
The original plan was set to keep both streets as two ways, while consequently removing “92 on-street parking spaces which we were given the indication that would not have support,” said Barkha Patel, who is the current director of the city’s Department of Infrastructure.
Residents have raised concerns about the plan’s quality of life, safety, and potential disruptions to daily commutes. Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano has voiced his opposition, citing safety issues and questioning the project’s financial prudence.
“I do not believe that we should spend taxpayers’ money to pay for a bike lane to be designed on Manhattan and Franklin when it would be unsafe for all of us,” said Boggiano. He emphasized the need to identify a safer location for the bike lane and suggested that the city reapply for the grant. “I will be working with Councilman Saleh, the Public Safety Department, and the Department of Infrastructure to come up with a safer location for the bike lane. I am voting no on this resolution.”
Boggiano also highlighted opposition from multiple local entities, including Christ Hospital, Central Avenue SID, St. Joseph’s School of the Blind, and both the Police and Fire Unions of Jersey City.
Residents have expressed unease regarding construction impacts, potential congestion due to Franklin Street becoming a one-way street, and delays in emergency response times.
Public Safety Director James Shea addressed the concerns surrounding emergency response times during a caucus meeting on March 10, 2025. He acknowledged that the Jersey City Fire Department and local deputy chiefs estimate an added delay of 45 seconds to a minute in response times due to the bike lane changes.
Community members have also expressed apprehension about the risks associated with the project. “It is the silent struggle in my community,” expressed Roman Dodia, in a letter obtained by Jersey Digs, in sharing the incident he encountered with a cyclist. “A bike lane on Franklin Street and Manhattan Avenue, without the strictest safeguards such as auditory signal, will turn risk into recklessness, and oversight into outright danger.”
As Jersey City continues to expand its infrastructure to support alternative modes of transportation, balancing safety, accessibility, and community consensus will remain a challenge for city officials. Whether the planned bike lane will ultimately improve mobility or exacerbate existing concerns remains a topic of debate among residents and stakeholders alike.
“When speaking to them [business owners], most of them are not even aware that there is a bike lane coming,” said Der-Han, director of Central Avenue Special Improvement District Corp to Jersey Digs. He added that he was not opposed to bike lanes, but more so the operational concerns of 240 storefronts in the vicinity, “the ones who do know this bike lane is coming, are opposed to it.”
