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Community demands traffic study and public outreach after proposal to convert Ocean Avenue and MLK Drive to one‑ways
Summary
Residents from southern wards urged the council to halt plans to convert Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive into one‑way corridors until the city releases traffic studies and holds community meetings; council approved a resolution to create a traffic enforcement review committee and added related agenda items for later action.
Residents from several southern wards told the Jersey City Municipal Council they were not consulted about proposed one‑way conversions of Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive and urged the city to pause plans and publish a traffic study and hold community meetings.
Why it matters: speakers said both streets serve seniors, school drop‑offs and local businesses and that a corridor‑wide one‑way conversion without neighborhood outreach could disrupt transit use, emergency access and daily errands.
Several speakers said they learned of the proposal only through community conversations and social media and asked for clear data and multiple public forums before any ordinance is introduced. Charles Maynor, president of the Jersey City NAACP branch, told the council, “We are not in favor of these proposed changes,” and criticized the lack of consultation for predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Council action and administration response: at the start of the meeting the council voted unanimously (9‑0) to add late items including a resolution to establish a committee to review citywide traffic enforcement matters (agenda item 10.38). Later in the meeting items 10.34–10.38, which included the traffic enforcement committee and loading‑zone designations, were approved unanimously 9‑0. Council members and staff said capital funding could be used to pay for professional traffic engineering studies but that hiring permanent staff would require additional appropriations.
Arguments for conversion and for study: proponents who spoke to council staff and some advocates at the meeting said one‑way conversions can reduce conflicts and may support dedicated bus or bike lanes that improve transit reliability and safety. Opponents said blanket corridor conversions are not the same as targeted safety interventions and that conversion plans should be tested on discrete segments supported by crash and traffic data.
Next steps: councilmembers and residents requested the administration publish traffic analyses, explain how proposed conversions would affect bus routes and seniors’ access, and schedule community meetings in the affected wards before further action. The council’s newly established traffic enforcement committee will review enforcement matters and may recommend further study or a pilot before any permanent changes are enacted.
