Four on MLK Drive, three on Sixth Street: The 17 Jersey City corners getting "turn hardening"

JERSEY CITY — Twelve of the 17 Jersey City intersections picked for the city’s new “turn hardening” safety program sit on just four streets, a Hudson TV review of the city’s list shows. Four are on Martin Luther King Drive, three are on Sixth Street downtown, three are on Summit Avenue and two are on Central Avenue.

Mayor James Solomon announced the program Monday, Oct. 19, in a video posted on the City of Jersey City’s X account at 5:32 p.m. He recorded it at the corner of Central Avenue and Congress Street in the Heights, one of the first three intersections where work begins this week.

In the video, Solomon says city data show “nearly 2,000 crashes, including seven fatal ones,” happened when drivers took left or right turns too fast. “We’re starting with the 17 most dangerous intersections,” he says.

What turn hardening is

Turn hardening changes the corner itself so a driver cannot swing through a turn at speed. Crews add physical pieces at the corner, such as speed humps and fixed barriers, so drivers have to make a slower, tighter turn, according to the mayor’s office. A wide, fast turn puts a car into the crosswalk at speed. A tight, slow one gives the driver more time to see the person crossing.

“Left turning crashes are one of the leading causes of death and injuries to pedestrians on our streets,” Jersey City Department of Infrastructure Director Andy Kaplan said in the city’s statement. “Hardened intersections let drivers get where they are going, just at a slower turning speed to see the person in the crosswalk.”

The numbers behind it

From 2019 through part of 2026, the city recorded 1,824 crashes involving injury or death that were classified as left-turn or right-turn crashes, according to the mayor’s office. Seven were fatal, and 80 involved suspected serious injuries.

The city says the 17 locations were identified through its Vision Zero program as high-crash intersections and were chosen to cover different types of intersections. How the designs perform at these first corners will guide whether the program expands in future years, Solomon said.

The 17 intersections

Starting this week, weather permitting:

• Central Avenue and Congress Street
• Summit Avenue and Leonard Street
• Summit Avenue and Manhattan Avenue

This fall and spring 2027:

• Martin Luther King Drive and Warner Avenue
• Martin Luther King Drive and Union Street
• Martin Luther King Drive and Claremont Avenue
• Martin Luther King Drive and Ege Avenue
• Marin Boulevard and Sixth Street
• Manila Avenue and Sixth Street
• Jersey Avenue and Sixth Street
• Sip Avenue and Summit Avenue
• Central Avenue and Jefferson Avenue
• West Side Avenue and Boyd Avenue
• Communipaw Avenue and Mallory Avenue
• Montgomery Street and Barrow Street
• Christopher Columbus Drive and Warren Street
• Ocean Avenue and Danforth Avenue

The Heights, again

The first three corners are all in the Heights, where the city has already been working on turning crashes. In March 2024 the City Council adopted Ordinance 24-013, which set No Turn on Red rules at 15 priority Heights intersections, according to the city’s Vision Zero Heights Safety Improvements page. The same page describes a demonstration project the city installed on Manhattan Avenue between Summit and Central avenues, the stretch that includes one of this week’s first three corners.

“People have been hurt and killed at these intersections, and far too often it was because a driver took the turn too fast,” Solomon said in the statement. He called the changes “practical, low-cost fixes.” The city’s announcement materials reviewed by Hudson TV did not state a total cost or a funding source. The city said it will post updates as more locations are scheduled.

The mayor’s office statement was also published Monday evening by Hudson County View.

Hudson TV asks: Should Jersey City add turn hardening to more corners next year (A), or wait for results from these 17 first (B)?
Share your take in the comments.