Historic square gets new urban makeover

One of the nation’s oldest public squares, degraded by 20th Century parking lots, has been restored to greater pedestrian use with a $1.8 million makeover. 

Street Plans’ Brooklyn office worked with Jersey City’s Department of Infrastructure to renovate Bergen Square, a beautifully proportioned 17th-century public space measuring roughly 225 feet by 150 feet. Old maps indicate that the square was once open to many kinds of traffic and commerce and gradually became more automobile-oriented with two intersecting streets through the middle and surface parking on the western two quadrants. The project, part of a larger Bergen Avenue corridor redesign,  included underground infrastructure upgrades, a four-to-three-lane road diet, a raised intersection, and the conversion of two small parking lots.

Located directly across from Lower Manhattan, this part of Jersey City is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the state. The city grew rapidly in the 2010s and is now near its peak population of 1940. In the first two decades of this century Jersey City has adopted new urban policies, built a light rail line, and redeveloped its waterfront into a major finance center. 

In 2018-2019, the city worked with Street Plans to propose a significant expansion of bike infrastructure. Along with that, a road diet was planned through Bergen Square, located at Bergen Avenue and Academy Street. A “quick build” version of that diet was implemented in 2019, reducing the street from four to three lanes, and building a protected bike lane. Bicycling along the corridor increased, as measured by CitiBike. Traffic was calmed, yet the reallocation of street space mostly reduced travel times. Northbound trips through the square were cut by up to a minute, and southbound traffic was slowed by one to seven seconds in peak periods and improved at other times. Those results gave the city confidence to move forward with the permanent upgrade.

Two corners of the square have been used for small parking lots since the mid-20th Century. These parking lots were restored to small plazas totaling 5,000 square feet. A bus shelter and bus island were added. Turn lanes were removed. The intersection was raised. Rain gardens were added. Additional seating made the space more comfortable, and other aesthetic improvements were made. 

“The redesigned public space boasts an area for community events, traffic safety upgrades, a newly planted 30-foot oak tree, and native greenery,” reports Jersey Digs.

“Our vision for Bergen Square is to build a usable outdoor public space ... for everyone to enjoy, with an important emphasis on the valuable role this area and Jersey City has played in our nation’s history going back thousands of years,” Mayor Steven Fulop told the publication.

Barkha Patel, the city’s Director of Infrastructure, describes how central Bergen Square is to the city and its inhabitants. Located around the square are a school, grocery store, shops, and apartments. It’s also a center for public transit, as an intensely used bus stop is at the heart. “It’s not a park that’s remote in another part of the city that you have to drive to or get to that’s inaccessible, it’s already a part of people’s daily lives, but no one really knew how special it was because it hadn’t been fully activated,” she said.

The official reported that activity in the square immediately increased once it opened. This year the city held its fifth annual Bergen Square Festival, initiated when the tactical road diet was built.