Playground, Bike, Pedestrian Projects Win Support In Freehold

FREEHOLD, NJ — The votes are in for the winning 2023 Participatory Budget submissions, and the citizen-based ideas focus on safety for pedestrians and bicyclists - and will offer some shade for kids' playgrounds.

The capital projects, submitted and chosen in a vote by residents and business owners, are:

• Playground canopies. Playgrounds identified include Veterans Park, Wilson Field, Lake Topanemus, and Lenoir Park.
• Solar LED crosswalk signs.
• Bicycle infrastructure, including multiple new bike racks, a bicycle repair station for the Market Yard parking lot (including an air pump), and shared-lane bicycle markings to go around the borough.

Carrie Conger, co-chair of the Participatory Budgeting Committee, said 400 residents voted this year, and community engagement in the concept in growing since the program began in 2017.

The program not only increases civic engagement, she said, but it "includes the residents in the process of determining how to spend their tax dollars."

She said up to $200,000 total is allocated for the projects, but depending on vendors' quotes the costs are expected to be less, she said.

Conger explained the purpose of the projects:

The playground canopies will be removable in winter months, but in summer they will protect kids from playing on hot-to-the-touch equipment. She said residents informed the town that, in summer, with sun beating down on equipment, the playgrounds weren't usable after noon. Making the canopies removable will extend their life, she added.

Solar LED crosswalk signage will improve pedestrian safety.

And the bicycle project includes more bike racks, a bicycle repair station and what is called a "sharrow" marked for both drivers and bicyclists, she said. There is no room to expands roads for bike lanes, but signage painted on the road will advise bicyclists of the proper direction to drive - and will remind drivers that the road is shared.

These upgrades will also deter bicyclists from riding on sidewalks, she said, which is not permitted in the borough.

Conger said the next steps will involve having a professional "vet the projects and dig deeper into the costs." For example, the professionals will ensure the projects are on public property and that they have at least five years of function and low maintenance costs, according to the borough guidelines.

This year's projects should get underway in early 2024.

Conger said that, since 2017, there have been 22 citizen-inspired projects (including these three), most of which are completed. Some notable examples are the planting of 200 trees in the borough and the replacement of the borough's fire house roof, as well as a pedestrian bridge to improve access to Lake Topanemus, she said. You can see some photos of the projects and other information on the borough website.

Mayor Kevin Kane initiated the Participatory Budgeting program, she said, and Kane mentioned at a recent Borough Council meeting how Freehold was the first municipality in the state to institute the concept and it is now gaining traction in the entire state.

Conger said the idea is catching on in New Jersey in places like Jersey City and Asbury Park. And it's a worldwide movement for inclusion of residents. The borough website says the idea originated in Brazil, and Conger said the Cambridge, Mass., has a "great system in place," aspects of which the borough has adopted.

Residents can refer to the borough website page for the committee to see all the projects and to get other information about the program.

"It's a labor of love," Conger said.