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Contact: Elisa Northrop, enorthrop@veronanj.org
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Verona Selected for Complete Streets Technical Assistance  

Verona Township will conduct a Complete Streets Corridor Assessment along a half-mile stretch of Linden Avenue through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) Complete Streets Technical Assistance Program. The Township was one of five municipalities selected through a competitive application process and will receive assistance in documenting existing conditions, exploring potential improvements, and developing recommendations to help improve health and safety for people biking and walking.  

We are pleased to have been selected for the Complete Streets Corridor Assessment focusing on Linden Avenue and the surrounding area, a project that will greatly enhance the safety for all travelers in Verona. This competitive process highlights the Township’s commitment to creating a safe and accessible community. We look forward to breaking ground in early 2025."

---Mayor Christopher Tamburro 

The assessment will focus on Linden Avenue from Fairview Avenue to Wildwood Terrace. This corridor is near several public schools as well as the Bloomfield Avenue town center. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists traverse Linden Avenue to access these various destinations. Speeding is a concern along Linden Avenue, particularly with the number of students using the road to walk to school. This assessment will explore ways to make the road safer, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Complete Streets help make our roads safer for everyone, especially people walking and biking,” said NJTPA Chair John P. Kelly, an Ocean County Commissioner. “They also help create more equitable and healthy communities by giving people more options when travelling. This program helps municipalities advance their Complete Streets goals.” 

In addition to Verona, Belleville, Belmar, Paterson and Readington will also receive technical assistance.

“We’re thrilled to have two Essex County municipalities selected to participate in this competitive program,” said Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., who represents the County on the NJTPA Board of Trustees. “This project will help Verona explore ways to make the Bloomfield Avenue town center safer, especially for students travelling to nearby schools.”

The NJTPA funds this program and provides technical assistance in partnership with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University and Sustainable Jersey. The Complete Streets Technical Assistance Program helps municipalities bring together key stakeholders to explore a local safety concern and develop concepts for potential solutions using a collaborative approach. Projects can include a bicycle corridor or network plan or a Complete Streets assessment of a one-mile corridor. The program can also be used to develop a Complete and Green Streets Policy. Projects may include demonstration projects or conceptual renderings of proposed future improvements.  

“It is valuable for municipalities to receive hands-on guidance to move their Complete Streets projects forward. Complete and Green Streets have numerous safety, environmental, equity and health benefits,” said Randall Solomon, Executive Director of Sustainable Jersey. “This work is an important element in the comprehensive sustainability programs of our communities and contributes to our mission to create a more sustainable New Jersey.”   

Complete Streets balance the needs of drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, emergency responders, goods movement and stormwater management based on the local context. They help improve health and safety for people walking and biking and create better places to live, work, play, learn, and do business. When streets are not complete, the negative impacts on public health, safety, equity, the economy, and the environment are disproportionately borne by low-income and minority communities.  

Improving safety is a key goal of this program. “Across New Jersey and the broader nation, we’ve seen a troubling rise in roadway fatalities, particularly among pedestrians and cyclists. The recommendations that are developed through these projects will help communities enhance the safety of their roadways for all users,” said Jon A. Carnegie, Executive Director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center.

This is the fourth time the NJTPA has offered technical assistance to municipalities in its region. Seven projects were completed in 2023, eight projects were completed in 2020 and nine projects were completed in 2019. The final reports are available on NJTPA’s Complete Streets webpage, njtpa.org/completestreets.   

ABOUT THE NORTH JERSEY TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AUTHORITY   

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) is the federally authorized Metropolitan Planning Organization for the 13-county northern New Jersey region. It evaluates and approves transportation improvement projects, provides a forum for cooperative transportation planning, sponsors and conducts studies, assists county and city planning agencies and monitors compliance with air quality goals.   

The NJTPA Board consists of one local elected official from Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties, and the cities of Newark and Jersey City. The Board also includes a Governor’s Representative, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the Executive Director of NJ TRANSIT, the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a Citizen’s Representative appointed by the Governor.  

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE JERSEY  

Sustainable Jersey provides tools, training, and financial incentives to support communities as they pursue sustainability programs. Currently, 83% or 466 of New Jersey’s 564 municipalities are participating in the municipal certification program and 62% of New Jersey’s school districts and 1,182 schools are participating in the Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification program.  

ABOUT THE ALAN M. VOORHEES TRANSPORTATION CENTER   

The Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) is a national leader in the research and development of innovative transportation policy. Located within the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, VTC has the full array of resources from a major research university on transportation issues of regional and national significance.  VTC includes the National Transit Institute, which was created by Congress in 1992 to design and deliver training and education programs for the U.S. transit industry.  

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