Official Site of The State of New Jersey

The NJDOT is continuing its efforts to maintain communication with stakeholders. Local municipalities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania have been asked to recommend up to three members of their communities to serve on a Public Advisory Group (PAG) that will continue with the project through construction. Candidates should be civic-minded citizens who currently do not hold any elected position in your community.

The purpose of the PAG is to provide a forum for the exchange of information between the Project Team, members of the public, and key business groups that are representative of the local communities affected by the project. NJDOT wants to develop a PAG that is regionally balanced and includes interested citizens eager to participate and contribute to the planning process.

The PAG will hold regularly scheduled working meetings to discuss project progress, issues of interest to the community, and quickly respond to community concerns. These meetings will last approximately two hours. The PAG is anticipated to remain active throughout the duration of the project (Preliminary Engineering, Final Design, and Construction) and to serve as an active means to communicate and update project information, raise local concerns to the project team and hear how they are being incorporated into the project development process.

As the project evolves, PAG members would be responsible for bringing community-specific issues and concerns to the table as well as sharing information from the project team with their constituents. The PAG members would supplement the knowledge of local government officials or their delegates about the Project Area and provide input on ideas, problems, observations, and solutions.

Members of the PAG are expected to:

• bring to the Project Team’s attention community priorities or recommendations for solutions that are prudent and feasible,
• share information about the project goals and objectives with their constituents,
• share the processes and procedures that will be followed in implementing the Project,
• share with the Project Team what local networks NJDOT should use to establish and maintain a productive dialogue with the local communities, and
• work collegially with the Project Team to raise and resolve community concerns and issues throughout project duration.

The PAG is a separate forum from the Emergency Services Task Force that NJDOT will organize where New Jersey and Pennsylvania regional, state, county, and local representatives from emergency services. The Emergency Services Task Force will convene during the duration of the project to evaluate current services and discuss opportunities to improve traffic operations before, during and after project construction.