Flashing beacons to help pedestrians cross Shrewsbury Avenue would be installed at Locust Avenue, above, and two other intersections. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank will get $1 million worth of pedestrian-safety and streetscape upgrades under a grant award announced Friday.
New streetlamps are also to be installed along the roadway, where dozens of existing fixtures have been out of commission for years.
The project calls for the replacement of 63 decorative street lamps. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The borough was one of 16 towns in the state to share in $14 million in federal funds distributed via the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, according to a DOT announcement.
The grant does not require the borough to put up a matching amount, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady told redbankgreen. Though Shrewsbury Avenue is under control of Monmouth County, the project will also be done at no cost to county, according to the freeholders’ resolution in support of the borough’s application.
The plan calls for installing flashing beacons at the Shrewsbury Avenue intersections of Monmouth Street, Locust Avenue/Chestnut Street and River Street, all of which have been the subject of complaints by pedestrians who say crossing the roadway is unsafe.
The funding will also pay for additional pedestrian improvements along the avenue between West Front Street and Newman Springs Road, said Shehady. They include traffic-calming bump-outs, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant curb ramps, crosswalks and more.
A host of aesthetic touches include 63 decorative light poles, a brick paver strip, trash receptacles, trees and “rain gardens at various locations” within bump-outs, according to a borough announcement.
Though there’s not yet a timetable for construction, Shehady told redbankgreen that completion of project under the federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program is typically required within two years of official notification, which the borough has not yet received.
The grant was one dozens sought since the borough hired grant consultant Millennium Strategies to seek available funding for a range of local needs. In its application, filed last August, the borough sought almost $1.s million for the project.
