Politics & Government

City Designs Plan to Alleviate Traffic Congestion

The city introduced a new plan this week, following a public meeting.

The city will move forward on plans to open Madison Street to car traffic, following a public meeting held earlier this week, the city announced this week. 

The measure is part of a Southwest Hoboken Access Improvement Plan. 

"We will be moving ahead with a pilot plan to reopen Madison Street to help alleviate the pressure at Jackson Street and ease traffic congestion getting into Hoboken overall," Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in the statement. 

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The city is in the final stages of coordinating with Hudson County and the Hoboken Fire and Police Departments to reopen Madison Street behind the firehouse on Observer Highway as part of an access improvement plan for Southwest Hoboken.

Although the street was closed to traffic with barriers several decades ago, it legally remains a through-street, according to the city.

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The city is finalizing plans to conditionally open the street within a month and to monitor changes to traffic patterns.

The main challenge with opening Madison Street, according to the city's announcement, is the short block length which provides minimal capacity for queued vehicles, which could back up onto Newark Street.

As a result, the city is planning a three-phase pilot in order to evaluate resulting traffic conditions at each step before considering additional changes.

Phase I: Only right hand turns will be permitted from Madison Street onto Observer Highway. Left turns and northbound through movements will be prohibited.

Phase 2: Left turns and northbound through movements will be permitted during off-peak hours (Right turn only on weekdays, 7am-9am and 4pm-7pm). (Pending analysis)

Phase 3: All turning movements permitted at all times. (Pending analysis)

In all phases, only right hand turns from Newark Street would be permitted onto Madison Street. Drivers would proceed from Marin Boulevard, turn left on Newark Street, and then right onto Madison Street.

Left turns will not be permitted onto Madison Street in order to avoid eastbound traffic backups on Newark Street. Large trucks and buses will be prohibited at all times.

Due to the limited queuing capacity on Madison Street, it is critical to maintain a constant flow of vehicles to prevent backups onto Newark Street.

Has this been an issue? Are you happy about these changes? Let us know in the comments! 


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