NJDOT construction projects are active statewide

Look around the roads and bridges in every corner of New Jersey this month. They feature orange barrels, cones and signs warning motorists of the work zones ahead.

The 2009 highway construction season is in full gear.

It’s been a busy period for highway construction in New Jersey. NJDOT’s Fiscal Year 2009 construction program is a testament to Governor Corzine’s commitment to infrastructure investment. We’ll issue over $1 billion in construction contracts, the most ever and an increase of more than 33 percent over the amount awarded in 2008.

The work we’re doing will improve highway safety and reduce congestion. It will help maintain the transportation infrastructure that is our state’s chief competitive economic advantage. Most importantly, it will create jobs for New Jersey citizens.

Among the large construction jobs to get underway this spring is a $24 million project to improve Route 46 and Main Street in Lodi, Bergen County, which is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We’re adding a third lane in each direction on Route 46 and widening Main Street so that it will have four through-lanes and a center turning lane. We’re adding traffic signals and replacing structurally deficient bridges on Route 46 over Main Street and the Saddle River.

We’ve also started a $31 million project to remove the Marlton Circle in Evesham Township, Burlington County. We’re relieving chronic traffic congestion by replacing the circle with an overpass to carry Route 73 over Route 70. The project, which includes a new access road, traffic signals and entrance and exit ramps, is scheduled for completion in 2011.

We’ve started work on a $9.8 million project that will improve the interchange of I-80 and I-287 in Parsippany/Troy Hills, Morris County. We’ve seen too many accidents involving overturned trucks at that interchange. This project was designed to reduce those accidents by realigning three entrance and exit ramps. The project is scheduled to be done by December 2010.

Those are just a few examples of the resurfacing, bridge painting and replacement, median barrier installation and drainage upgrades that will make New Jersey’s roads and bridges safer, smoother and less congested.

I encourage you, during this busy construction season, to drive with extra care. Aggressive or inattentive driving in a work zone puts both motorists and construction crews at risk. Over the past five years, we’ve had 25,598 crashes in work zones in New Jersey. They’ve resulted in 8,781 injuries and 73 deaths. We can all help to reduce those numbers.

NJDOT does everything possible to minimize the disruptions caused by construction. We take pains to maintain access to local businesses and properties while construction crews are at work. We try to limit lane closures to overnight periods, when there are fewer vehicles on the road. We provide motorists with real-time traffic information at www.nj511.info. If you encounter minor travel disruptions because of a construction project, I hope you’ll agree it’s a small price to pay for progress.