Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: RETHINKING SHREWSBURY AVENUE

ru-shrewsbury-avenue-100619-2-500x332-6381326Student planners from Rutgers led the information-gathering session at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. Below, a map on display at the event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

ru-shrewsbury-avenue-100619-1-220x146-8580536Worries about gentrification and pedestrian safety were at the fore as Red Bank residents gathered for a brainstorming session about the future of Shrewsbury Avenue Wednesday night.

ru-shrewsbury-avenue-100619-3-500x332-8836475The audience at the event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Held at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, the session was led by graduate students in urban planning at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. They’re participating in a “design studio” led by planners Susan Gruel and Fred Heyer, whose firm, Heyer Gruel & Associates, is based on Broad Street.

About half the two dozen or so audience members indicated that they lived in or near the Shrewsbury Avenue corridor. Asked to identify what they like about it, participants cited the area’s ethnic and racial diversity, its walkability and its small restaurants and shops, among other pluses.

But traffic, pedestrian safety and housing affordability were overriding concerns.

“Shrewsbury Avenue has replaced Route 35 as the quickest way through Red Bank,” said Dr. Gene Cheslock, founder of the Parker Family Health Center, located on Shrewsbury Avenue. That endangers pedestrians trying to cross the avenue, he said.

“It’s always been a nightmare” for senior citizens who live at the River Street Commons when crossing the avenue to visit the pharmacy and other businesses, said Amy Goldsmith, of Locust Avenue.

Nancy Blackwood of Chestnut Street said the traffic forces bicyclists onto the sidewalk “because the street is so unsafe.”

Participants also called out a need for affordable housing that has adequate setbacks from the street, as well as more public spaces, both for children to play in and for adults to gather socially.

redbankgreen was unable to stay for the entire event, which was also scheduled to include discussion of ideas for a Broad-to-the-river concept linking Broad Street and the Navesink waterfront.

The students said they intend to return to Red Bank in about a month to present a “planning document” for public consideration, said one of the students. No date for the event has yet been determined.

Last December, undergrads from the Bloustein program presented ideas for transforming Monmouth Street in the area of the train station.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...