On Saturday, I became aware of serious traffic issues in southwest Hoboken, as a result an underground water meter improvement project by Suez Water. I was extremely frustrated, as I know many of you were, with the congestion.
First, I would like to commend the Hoboken Police Department for going above and beyond in mitigating the traffic issues to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, other jurisdictions fell far short on their obligations to public safety, which caused the incredibly frustrating backups.
First thing Monday morning, I met with all of Hoboken’s internal stakeholders, including Business Administrator Stephen Marks, City Construction Manager Peter Balnius, City Engineer Kimberli Craft, Transportation and Parking Director Ryan Sharp, OEM Coordinator Sgt. William Montanez, Sgt. Christopher LaBruno, Lt. James Marnell, Deputy Chief of Staff Jason Freeman, and Communications Manager Santiago Melli-Huber.
Our goal was to address the future impact of this project, which is scheduled to take place over the next several weekends. What happened this past weekend is simply not acceptable, and I made that clear to Suez Water in no uncertain terms.
To that end, I’ve given Suez by Wednesday at 9 a.m. to present to me a traffic management plan that will ease the pain for Hoboken residents and visitors. If their plan is not acceptable, I am prepared to shut down their project to protect the safety and welfare of Hoboken residents.
My ultimate priority is the safety and well-being of Hoboken residents and I will do everything in my power to make sure that what happened this past weekend, does not happen again. If there are any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to my office.
