The City of Hoboken today invited residents and stakeholders to attend a public workshop on Thursday, June 5, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Wallace Elementary School cafeteria, 1100 Willow Ave., to learn more and provide feedback on proposed Vision Zero safety improvements along Willow Avenue between 11th Street and 16th Steet and amenity upgrades at the adjacent Tom Olivieri Park.
The event will begin with a presentation on Willow Avenue Project, followed by a presentation on the Tom Olivieri Park Improvement Project. After the presentations, the meeting will transition into an open house-style workshop, where attendees can interact directly with the design teams and city officials to ask questions and share feedback.
“As we work toward a safer, more accessible, and more equitable Hoboken, community input is essential to the success of projects like the Willow Avenue redesign and the Tom Olivieri Park improvements,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “These initiatives not only advance our Vision Zero and sustainability goals but also invest in the quality of life for our families, seniors, and all who call Hoboken home. I thank our partners at the County for supporting these critical projects and I encourage residents to attend the June 5 meeting to help shape the future of their neighborhood.”
"My administration is prioritizing street safety, whether it's through our Vision Zero Action Plan or infrastructure upgrades on our county roads. And public engagement is vital to these efforts," said Hudson County Executive Craig Guy. "This design charrette will help us better understand the needs of Hoboken pedestrians, bikers, and motorists while providing a forum for the project team to introduce design ideas the on-going redesign of Willow Avenue."
Willow Avenue Vision Zero Safety Improvements
The City of Hoboken and Hudson County are collaborating on a comprehensive redesign of Willow Avenue between 11th and 16th Streets, to improve safety for all road users. The corridor serves as a key access point for many vulnerable road users, including students at Wallace Elementary School, seniors at Fox Hill Gardens, children at Tom Olivieri Park, and patrons of nearby businesses. The corridor also features four NJ TRANSIT bus stops and a Citi Bike station and is used by commuters from Weehawken, Union City, and other North Hudson communities, as a gateway to and from the Lincoln Tunnel.
The redesign is a key part of advancing Hoboken and Hudson County’s Vision Zero Action Plans, which aim to eliminate all traffic deaths. Willow Avenue between the Weehawken border and 11th Street and between 12th and 11th Street is part of Hoboken’s high-crash network, which accounts for 40 percent of injuries and fatalities citywide between 2014 and 2018. Between 2019 and 2021 alone, the corridor experienced 31 injury-causing crashes, including injuries to seven pedestrians and four bicyclists. Hudson County also identifies it as part of the “bicyclist priority high injury network” in their recently completed local safety action plan.
The project, which received $1.39 million in grant funding from the Federal Highway Administration and New Jersey Department of Transportation, could incorporate a number of proposed improvements, including bike lanes, curb extensions, ADA curb ramps, high-visibility crosswalks, pedestrian refugee islands, leading pedestrian intervals at signalized intersections to allow for more crossing time without interactions with vehicles, and more.
To learn more about the Willow Avenue Vision Zero Safety Improvements Project, which is anticipated to begin construction in 2027 following design completion, CLICK HERE.
Tom Olivieri Park Upgrades
The City is earmarked to receive $1.5 million in grant funding to support a renovation of the 5,000-square-foot Tom Olivieri Park, located at 1225 Willow Ave. The park features mature trees, murals, and a playground used by local families and residents.
Planned improvements will transform the park into an inclusive, sensory-rich play space that could feature amenities like a fully accessible playground with a new safety surface, a spray park, a prefabricated restroom, new lighting, updated landscaping, improved fencing, and upgraded furniture. Importantly, the planned renovation will preserve the park’s two existing community murals, including Flight by Rorshach and a mural honoring Tom Olivieri, a tenants’ rights activist.
The City launched a public planning process in January to gather community feedback via an online public survey to inform the preliminary concept design for Tom Olivieri Park upgrades that will be presented at the June 5 public meeting. The final concept design will be presented later this summer incorporating comments received on the initial park design.
