Departing NJ Turnpike chairman says Governor hot for start to $2.5b widening

Kris Kolluri, the departing chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike is reported as saying Governor Corzine is hot for a start on the big Turnpike widening project. NJBIZ this afternoon quotes Kolluri as saying: "Governor Corzine told me he wants the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway with shovels in the ground by January. But I said to him, 'Give me time until March and April.' "

Design work is well advanced but no construction contracts have yet been advertised in the Turnpike's "Business Center"

- see http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/buss.htm

In the central portion of the Turnpike the widening will increase the mainline to 12 lanes from Interchange 9 (IC9) and extend the 4 roadways or 'dual/dual' format (3/3/3/3) south from IC8A to IC6 (MP51) - a total of about 25 miles (40km). There is presently serious congestion on a daily basis in this segment.

When the Pennsylvania Turnpike builds the planned interchange with I-95 on the western bank of the Delaware River near Bristol this widening segment of the NJ Turnpike will probably get more traffic.

To become I-95

After the Penn Pike interchange I-95 will be the official sign for the short segment of the Penn Pike to the Delaware River Bridge, the Pearl Harbor Extension of the NJ Turnpike to IC6, and the NJ Turnpike mainline north of IC6.

I-95 was intended until the 1980s to continue  west of Princeton up to I-287 in the Middlesex/Somerville area as a freeway, but that was cancelled due to local opposition plus concern about the detrimental effect on Turnpike revenues.

Five new interchanges

As well as adding the extra pair of roadways five interchanges have to be rebuilt adding the characteristic righthand entry and exit jumpovers needed to allow traffic movements of the inner roadways to avoid interference with traffic on the outer roadways. In some cases new loops and connections to local roads are being built.

The overall width of the mainline between interchanges will go from about 125ft (38m) to 300ft (91m). The work will add some 170 lane-miles of roadway (274 lane-km).

Cost of the project is estimated at about $2,500m.

HNTB are project engineers for the widening. Louis Berger Group have run public outreach and permitting.

Behind schedule?

The project is somewhat behind schedule according to one Turnpike brochure which says "Begin Construction - Late 2008."

see http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/NJTA-wide-PIC-Brochure.pdf

Another presentation shows construction as beginning July 2009.

http://www.njturnpikewidening.com/documents/Interchange_6-9_EO172_Presentation_V1.0.pdf

for the project see

http://www.njturnpikewidening.com/

TOLLROADSnews 2008-11-07