Hoboken Mayor demands traffic plan from Suez Water for southwestern project

HOBOKEN — Hoboken residents and visitors were met with serious traffic difficulties Saturday in southwest Hoboken as a result of an underground water meter improvement project conducted by Suez Water.
Traffic was backed up as far east as Willow Avenue and as far north as Third Street.
According to a statement from Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Suez has until Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. to present a traffic management plan and if “their plan is not acceptable, I am prepared to shut down their project to protect the safety and welfare of Hoboken residents. ”
The project is scheduled to take roughly seven weeks to complete. According to Tweets from Hoboken police Chief Ken Ferrante, Hoboken officers were on site trying to direct traffic and minimize congestion.
Ferrante said in his tweets the day of that no one was on the Jersey City side of the border dealing with traffic.
“My ultimate priority is the safety and well-being of Hoboken residents and I will do everything in my power to make sure that what happened this past weekend, does not happen again,” said Bhalla.