City to Apply for Pedestrian Safety Grant

The city will apply for a grant to improve the pedestrian safety on Willow Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets, the location of .

The main goal is increasing pedestrian safety for the students at the Wallace School who walk to school every day, which is at least half of all the students, according to Director of Parking and Transportation Ian Sacs.

Sacs said that overall, has improved in Hoboken and the "dramatically."

The stretch of Willow Avenue above 11th Street is wider than most roads in Hoboken, which also means that cars are more likely to speed there. 

The wideness of the street and the fact that a lot of Wallace students walk to school, Sacs said on Wednesday night, are strong incentives to increase pedestrian safety at that location. 

But, even though the city can apply for a grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, chances of getting the money are slim, Sacs said. "It's a highly competitive grant application," Sacs said. But, he added, "we're setting a frame work for a longer term conversation with the county." The county owns that road. 

If the grant gets approved, the project will take two or three years, Sacs said. 

Are there any other intersections in town where pedestrian safety can be improved? Let us know in the comments.