Changes to College Avenue

January 17, 2017

Members of the Rutgers Community:

Over the past several years, the College Avenue Campus—the historic heart of Rutgers–New Brunswick—has undergone exciting changes, including most recently the addition of the Honors College and state-of-the-art Academic Building across from Voorhees Mall, and the transformation of the former “grease truck” lots into new student apartments, restaurants, and green space at The Yard.  

This semester, in cooperation and partnership with the City of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Parking Authority, Rutgers will take another important step in the redevelopment and improvement of College Avenue by creating dedicated bike lanes on the Voorhees Mall side of the road and a buses-only lane on the Student Center side of the road. Making College Avenue safer, more beautiful, and easier to navigate is one more way that we are working to improve the student experience here at Rutgers.

As a first step toward implementing these changes, the New Brunswick Parking Authority has removed all parking meters on College Avenue from Hamilton Street to Huntington Street.  Twenty metered parking stalls will be designated in Lot 26 (near the student center) to accommodate non-permit parkers for day and evening parking, and thirty spaces in Lot 2 (next to Alexander Johnston Hall) will be available as metered parking on weeknights and on weekends with no impact on university staff.

The temporary plastic barriers along College Avenue by Scott Hall will be replaced in the coming weeks by an attractive, permanent fence that will run from Scott Hall to Ford Hall with gaps at crosswalks.  At the Scott Hall bus stop we will also install a pedestrian crossing signal similar to the one on George Street by the Student Activities Center and river dorms.

As you can see by viewing the rendering that accompanies the news release, the university and the city will work together to install a two-way, separated bike lane on College Avenue with a buffer from the traffic lanes.  We will also establish a clearly marked buses-only lane that will enable Rutgers buses to move easily down College Avenue, helping them keep on schedule for the benefit of students across Rutgers–New Brunswick.

Although weather will play a factor in the timing of the project, we expect to complete this realignment of College Avenue traffic lanes over the course of the spring semester.  I am excited about the benefits that these changes will bring to Rutgers students, both making College Avenue more pleasant for pedestrians and bus riders and encouraging more members of our community to use bicycles.

We continue to pursue initiatives that will enhance the student experience at Rutgers, and I hope that you will enjoy the improvements we are making to College Avenue.

Sincerely,

Robert Barchi