Jersey City Officials Break Ground On $200K Triangle Park Upgrade

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Jersey City officials broke ground on the transformation of Fairmount Triangle Park.

The project transforms two street segments that cross through the park to create one big, uninterrupted public park space. The project is $200,000 and grant-funded. The renovation designs were developed with community input to include upgrading the playground area and installing a permanent infrastructure with new trees, plants, seating, restriping pedestrian crosswalks, fencing, a flag pole, among other elements for residents to enjoy the newly established public space safely.

With this groundbreaking, the city will fully incorporate the street space into the park, creating a unified park space and establishing a sidewalk around the park’s perimeter. Pedestrian traffic signal equipment will also be reconfigured to accommodate the new park and help pedestrians safely cross at nearby intersections. Eliminating the cut-through streets will improve traffic safety by reducing the number of conflict points between pedestrians and motorists.

“Fairmount Triangle currently has streets cutting through the park, which renders the green space unusable for many local children and families. We used the community’s input to realize the full potential of the open park space by reconfiguring two small portions of roadway and incorporating them into the park while maintaining all of the existing on-street parking,” said Mayor Steven Fulop. “These upgrades will significantly improve safe access for pedestrians, which will attract more people to actually use the park for recreation and encourage a healthier, active lifestyle.”

Following the success of the City’s 2019 pilot program, which has remained in place since, the City conducted a traffic assessment and held numerous community meetings over the past year and a half to incorporate residents’ input into the new vision for a safer, more functional Fairmount Park.

“As this administration continues to invest in the Bergen-Lafayette section of Jersey City, we’re seeing critical development that is part of our overall efforts to revive and reaffirm the neighborhood as a destination for everyone from families to businesses. Just across the street from the park, we have over 200 residential units being built. We expect the progress to continue, and the new and improved Fairmount Park is a key part of that,” said Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson.

The process of the entire park improvement project, from start to finish, will be published by Blue Zones to be used as case studies for what other municipalities around the nation can do to achieve similar success.

To further communication between the community and the municipality, monthly meetings are being held throughout the park’s construction process. The next virtual meeting is scheduled on May 18th at 8 p.m. Community members are encouraged to attend by joining the virtual meeting here.