Maplewood Township officials will be meeting virtually with Parker Avenue residents and neighbors across three dates in March to elicit additional feedback on plans to create dedicated bike lanes for the “entire length” of Parker — from Maplewood Avenue to Irvington Avenue.
The first meeting on Monday, March 3, 2025 at 7:30 pm will focus on the area of Parker Avenue between Maplewood Avenue and Prospect Street. Additional meetings on March 10 and 24 will focus on other sections of Parker Avenue.
“Accommodating the bike lanes would require the elimination of on-street parking on both sides of Parker Avenue. We know this would be an impactful change to residents on Parker Avenue, and we would like the opportunity to present the concept plan to you and to hear your feedback,” read a letter to neighbors sent by Township Administrator Patrick Wherry on February 26.
This plan for bike lanes on Parker Avenue in Maplewood was presented at the October 2024 Planning and Engineering Committee meeting.
“The installation of bike lanes fits the ‘Complete Streets’ approach to street design, which strives to accommodate all transportation modes including walking, cycling and driving,” wrote Wherry. “Maplewood follows this complete streets approach with the goal of improving safety and accessibility for all road users.”
Wherry concluded, “During the past year, Maplewood has focused on creating a town-wide system of bike lanes to enable adults and children to travel to our parks, schools, shopping districts and train station in a safe manner. We’ve identified Parker Avenue as an opportunity to create a safe, biking travel option connecting the east and west sides of town.”
Residents can access the March 3 virtual meeting at www.zoom.com or (929) 205-6099, Meeting ID: 832 7918 0298, Passcode: 910975.
Detail from Dynamic Traffic, October 2024.
Township officials presented the plans in detail at the October 2024 Planning and Engineering Committee meeting. At that time, several Parker Avenue residents and near neighbors voiced their support for the bike lanes — and for the removal of parking from the street.
Local residents and biking advocates, such as Martin Ceperley, who has helped to organize “bike buses” for local elementary schools, asked about adding flex posts or tuff curbs and/or painting the lanes green. Dynamic was open to exploring these suggestions.
Ceperley also asked about placing both lanes on the same side of the street — as seen in New York City or Jersey City.
Engineering consultants from Dynamic Traffic said that the width of Parker was too narrow to support that.
“So in this example, let’s say you put the two-way bike lane on the top side of the screen, the cyclist going from left to right is going against the flow of the traffic adjacent to him,” said Patrick Downey of Dynamic. “So with that being the case, you need an additional buffer required in between those two that you do not need if the bike lane is in the same direction. And when you factor in the additional width required for that buffer, it’s actually too wide of a treatment.”
Detail from Dynamic Traffic, October 2024.
Overall, Ceperley expressed his excitement for the plan.
“This is really huge. I commend everyone that’s been working on this. I think it’s a huge step forward. For one thing to just prohibit parking on Parker Avenue. I think we all know parking is not really safe and it’s clearly not being utilized,” said Ceperley. “In terms of the bike lane design itself, I think it’s a good step.”
Township Committeeperson Vic DeLuca, who chairs the Engineering Committee, said that the current plan is substantially the same as presented in October, but “We expect public comment to result in some ideas that might be incorporated in the final plan.”
Since October, DeLuca and township officials have been meeting with stakeholders on Parker such as Rabbi and Frumie Bogomilsky of the Maplewood Jewish Center and Columbia High School Principal Frank Sanchez.
DeLuca encouraged all community members to attend the March 3 meeting: “Although we are focusing on the section between Maplewood Avenue and Prospect Street, others who are interested in the idea are invited to join us.”
When could residents see the bike lanes on Parker become reality?
“We are still projecting a late 2025 start if we make a final decision to move forward with the bike lane,” said DeLuca. “At the 2/25 budget meeting, we kept $250,000 in the capital budget for the project.”
Detail from Dynamic Traffic, October 2024.
