The beating heart of our community — and a menu of ideas to talk through.
For discussion · Office of the Mayor · on behalf of the Borough Council
This is not the first time
Every generation has rebuilt this street.
c. 1815
An inn stands at the crossroads — where Main and South meet today.
1887
The borough is born. Victorian storefronts rise, most with covered porches over the sidewalk.
Early 1900s
The porches come down. Cement sidewalks and a wider, paved road — for automobiles.
1954
The Parkway opens. The Shore fills up, and every visitor needs somewhere to put a car.
2027
Our 140th year. What now?
How to read what follows
A menu of ideas — not a done deal.
Three things are funded and getting done this fall — the roundabout, the Route 71 work, and new pavers for the worn brick. The rest is a menu of ideas to weigh — keep what works for Manasquan, set aside what doesn’t.
The paver work is scheduled, so these choices need a decision by September 15. Your view is part of the design.
Three getting done · a menu of six to weigh
The menu, in one look.
Each of the six is numbered — and gets its own slide, just ahead.
Getting done this fall
✓Roundabout
✓Route 71 & Main
✓New pavers
The menu · ideas to weigh
1Improvement District
2Gateway signs
3Calmed side streets
4The trolley
5Parking + bike lanes
6A parking garage
Getting done this fall · funded, not our budget
Three things are getting done.
✓
The Roundabout
County rebuilds Broad / South / Main — slower speeds, shorter crossings, landscaped corners.
Funded · County
✓
Route 71 & Main
State- and federally-funded upgrade of our eastern gateway.
Funded · State + Fed
✓
New sidewalk pavers
The worn brick in the 5′ strip gets the chosen paver — scheduled work, the reason we decide by Sept 15.
Locally funded
The menu · six ideas to weigh
Now, one at a time.
Each idea is numbered to match the menu — some take one slide, a few take more. Put them up, and let the room weigh in.
1
Idea 1 of 6
The menu · Stewardship
A Business Improvement District
A downtown organization that funds, maintains and improves the street — so whatever the town builds has someone to keep it up. It would begin this fall, if we want it.
Already doing this — here in Monmouth County
BelmarFreeholdHighlandsKeyportRed BankSpring Lake
2
The menu · Wayfinding
Gateway parking signs
Their own design and color at every entrance to Main Street — each pointing to the nearest of our three lots (North Main, South & Broad, the Plaza) before anyone starts circling.
Idea 2 of 6
Manasquan
Downtown Parking
P→
North MainP↑
South & BroadP→
The PlazaP→
One at every gateway — about a dozen in all · each points to the nearest lot
3
The menu · Walkability · idea 3 of 6
Two summer restrictions. One permanent closure.
Miller Preston — closed permanently, and the trolley stop (idea 4)Pearce & Parker — no left turns on or off Main, Memorial Day to Labor DayCentral — unchanged
4
The menu · Parking + Transit · idea 4 of 6
The trolley & its stop — the loop that makes the lots count.
Trolley loop — free to rideFree public parkingBike lanes on MainNorth Main → Main St → St. Denis → Squan Plaza → North Main+187 spaces in reach
4
The menu · idea 4 of 6 · the ask of downtown
The trolley & its stop.
Send the long-stay cars to the outer lots.
Main Street businesses direct their employees. The Algonquin directs its audiences.
Every long-stay car that moves off Main is a space handed straight back to a customer.
5
Idea 5 of 6
The menu · Storefronts + Mobility
Parallel parking & bike lanes
Angled parking becomes parallel — opening the sightline to every storefront — and the room it frees becomes a bike lane each way, Broad Street to the tracks. No net loss of spaces. The biggest change on the list.
−5 on the street · 0 net · first bike lanes
5
The menu · idea 5 of 6 · the same block, from above
Parallel parking & bike lanes.
◂▸
Today
2027
5
The menu · idea 5 of 6 · the business case
A local business makes the case — for biking to town.
A downtown shop posted this half in jest — but it makes idea 5’s point. When the street is packed, bikes are how people still reach the door, and the research is clear about what that does for shops:
“Building a protected bike lane on commercial corridors attracts high-value customers, creating larger profits for businesses along the street.”1
Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition
“Customers who walk or ride to shops visit more often and spend more money.”2
Clean Air Partnership, Toronto
Retail sales rose +49% on a Manhattan block after a protected bike lane — against +3% area-wide.3
New York City DOT · 9th Avenue
1 Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, “Facts about protected bike lanes.” 2 Clean Air Partnership, “Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business,” Toronto, 2010. 3 NYC DOT, “Measuring the Street,” 2012.
Photo: a Manasquan Main Street storefront, summer 2026
5
The menu · idea 5 of 6 · the money it unlocks
This option is the one that unlocks the grants.
Every grant here is tied to parallel parking & bike lanes — the option most likely to draw pushback. Here is the cash on the table if it moves.
$50K
Clean Fleet EV
no match
$370K
Transit Village
no match
$410K
Safe Sts to Transit
no match
$500K
Municipal Aid
no match
$500K
Bikeways
no match
On the table
$1.8M
up to · no local match
Each bill = $50,000 in grants
Outside the total: USDOT Safe Streets & Roads for All — up to $25M at a 20% match (realistically $1–2M).
NJDOT figures are recent FY25–26 award ranges · actual award depends on project scope
6
The menu · idea 6 of 6 · what it looks like
A parking garage behind the storefront.
From behind — two decks over the retail
From Main Street — storefront unchanged
Retail stays — two parking decks aboveUnder 40′ — no height variance requiredEnters from a side street
Illustrative planning concept · Main Street or the Plaza
6
The menu · idea 6 of 6 · the layout & the count
A parking garage behind the storefront.
Today · surface lot
~20–30
spaces
One deck · Lot 15
~90–120
3–4× today
If Lot 16 is added
~160–210
6–8× today
Planning-level counts · confirm with a field count + a parking-engineering study
The parking math · option by option
What each option would do to parking.
1
Business Improvement District
Programs and upkeep — no parking impact
0
2
Gateway parking signs
Directs drivers to the lots — no parking impact
0
3
Calmed side streets
Turn restrictions only — no parking impact
0
4
The trolley & its stop
Opens the outer lots — North Main 131 · St. Denis 56
+187
5
Parallel parking + bike lanes
−5 on Main, +5 in Squan Plaza — neutral
0
6
A parking garage
Structured deck — on Main Street or in the Plaza
+65–95
No matter what’s chosen, nothing on the street is lost — any added capacity would come from the lots (idea 4) or the deck (idea 6).
Main Street was laid out for horse and buggy.
In our 140th year — what should it be for our time? Let’s decide together, by September 15.
Suggestions or comments — email mayor@manasquan-nj.gov
Office of the Mayor · on behalf of the Borough Council · August 17, 2026
