Jones Lang LaSalle
Long and winding road to improving Route 287
03/12/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
There are so many challenges facing Route 287 commuters. Reckless speeders, big trucks eager to throw their weight around, traffic that only seems to worsen and worn-out stretches desperately in need of repair are some of them.
Yet those issues are chronic problems on other highways, as well. Fixing what ails 287, or any highway in New Jersey, is like trying to retrofit a poorly tailored tuxedo.
"We're prisoners of past land use decisions,"said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School for Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.
"Too many dispersed origins. Too many dispersed destinations,"Hughes explained.
The much-derided phenomenon of sprawl was aided by the development of 287, nearly a half-century ago. Suburban business and housing development skyrocketed due to the highway's convenience.
"287 was designed to avoid the heavily urbanized areas and allow interstate travel to flow more freely. They never anticipated that it would sire locations for housing and jobs," Hughes said.
Hughes cited AT & T's decision, in 1976, to open a global headquarters in Basking Ridge. Such a move would have been unthinkable, pre-287.
By the early 1990s, when the final stretch of the 67-mile highway opened through Mahwah, drivers were complaining about heavy traffic volumes. The guess here is that what passed for congestion 10 years ago would be accepted without complaint today.
A state Department of Transportation study on improving 287 traffic flow between Piscataway and Franklin Township, at the Raritan River crossing, has been under way for more than a year. It should wrap up in 2007, DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon said.
"Too many people wanting to go to the same place at the same time," Donald Kanoff, who drives from Montville to Parsippany, said when asked to evaluate his morning commute.
Mass transit?
Obviously, fewer 287 drivers would help, and that would require a greater emphasis on mass transit. The challenge, of course, is making trains, buses and car pooling truly affordable and convenient.
Try getting from New Brunswick to Morristown by any way other than driving. It can be done, of course, but it's no one's first choice.
"We all think that's a great idea for somebody else to do,"Don Watt, director of operations for Trans Options in Cedar Knolls and a 287 commuter, said of carpooling.
In addition to traffic, trucks on 287 often are perceived as a big problem ... at least by non-truckers.
"The cars are doing 60, 65 (mph). Trucks are doing 80. They're terrible," said John Bond, who takes 287 from Butler to Parsippany on weekdays.
Toll aversion
Hughes said there's a good reason why so many trucks use 287. Years ago, when tolls were raised on the New Jersey Turnpike, traffic patterns by truckers started to shift.
As a way of avoiding the turnpike, trucks from New England will cross over the Tappan Zee Bridge, take 287 into Bridgewater, switch onto Route 202 to Route 31, and connect with Interstate 95 just outside of Pennsylvania.
Some have proposed limiting trucks on 287 to the left lane, Hughes said. Don't bet on that happening.
"The trucking industry is very powerful. We're a corridor state," Hughes said.
When it comes to roadway resurfacings, at least, some good news is ahead. In the spring, workers will finish paving a 6-mile stretch north of Parsippany identified as among the worst in the state, Phalon said.
Another 6-mile stretch of the highway, starting by the Turnpike and running through Edison, Metuchen and South Plainfield, will be resurfaced starting in 2007, Phalon said.
Route 80 exit
Meanwhile, the long-awaited restructuring of the Route 80 interchange will begin in 2009, Phalon said. The winding exit from 287 North onto westbound 80 has been blamed for truck rollovers.
AAA in New Jersey spokeswoman Pam Fischer said she avoids the exit from eastbound Route 80 onto 287 South.
"It's horrible," Fischer said.
Smoothing out potholes and other perfections, while costly and time-consuming, should continue to be doable despite the perilous standing of the Transportation Trust Fund.
There are no easy, big-picture solutions, though some additional courtesy on the highway would help.
"I was taught that the middle lane was the one you travel on. The left is for passing. The right is for on and off," Bond said.
Now there's a lesson that seems to have been forgotten, or at least ignored.
I'd enjoy hearing from readers about their Route 287 driving experiences, and any suggestions on highway improvements are encouraged.
The Road Crew blog is at http://www.dailyrecord.com/blogs/roadcrew/
Long and winding road to improving Route 287
03/12/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
There are so many challenges facing Route 287 commuters. Reckless speeders, big trucks eager to throw their weight around, traffic that only seems to worsen and worn-out stretches desperately in need of repair are some of them.
Yet those issues are chronic problems on other highways, as well. Fixing what ails 287, or any highway in New Jersey, is like trying to retrofit a poorly tailored tuxedo.
"We're prisoners of past land use decisions,"said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School for Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.
"Too many dispersed origins. Too many dispersed destinations,"Hughes explained.
The much-derided phenomenon of sprawl was aided by the development of 287, nearly a half-century ago. Suburban business and housing development skyrocketed due to the highway's convenience.
"287 was designed to avoid the heavily urbanized areas and allow interstate travel to flow more freely. They never anticipated that it would sire locations for housing and jobs," Hughes said.
Hughes cited AT & T's decision, in 1976, to open a global headquarters in Basking Ridge. Such a move would have been unthinkable, pre-287.
By the early 1990s, when the final stretch of the 67-mile highway opened through Mahwah, drivers were complaining about heavy traffic volumes. The guess here is that what passed for congestion 10 years ago would be accepted without complaint today.
A state Department of Transportation study on improving 287 traffic flow between Piscataway and Franklin Township, at the Raritan River crossing, has been under way for more than a year. It should wrap up in 2007, DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon said.
"Too many people wanting to go to the same place at the same time," Donald Kanoff, who drives from Montville to Parsippany, said when asked to evaluate his morning commute.
Mass transit?
Obviously, fewer 287 drivers would help, and that would require a greater emphasis on mass transit. The challenge, of course, is making trains, buses and car pooling truly affordable and convenient.
Try getting from New Brunswick to Morristown by any way other than driving. It can be done, of course, but it's no one's first choice.
"We all think that's a great idea for somebody else to do,"Don Watt, director of operations for Trans Options in Cedar Knolls and a 287 commuter, said of carpooling.
In addition to traffic, trucks on 287 often are perceived as a big problem ... at least by non-truckers.
"The cars are doing 60, 65 (mph). Trucks are doing 80. They're terrible," said John Bond, who takes 287 from Butler to Parsippany on weekdays.
Toll aversion
Hughes said there's a good reason why so many trucks use 287. Years ago, when tolls were raised on the New Jersey Turnpike, traffic patterns by truckers started to shift.
As a way of avoiding the turnpike, trucks from New England will cross over the Tappan Zee Bridge, take 287 into Bridgewater, switch onto Route 202 to Route 31, and connect with Interstate 95 just outside of Pennsylvania.
Some have proposed limiting trucks on 287 to the left lane, Hughes said. Don't bet on that happening.
"The trucking industry is very powerful. We're a corridor state," Hughes said.
When it comes to roadway resurfacings, at least, some good news is ahead. In the spring, workers will finish paving a 6-mile stretch north of Parsippany identified as among the worst in the state, Phalon said.
Another 6-mile stretch of the highway, starting by the Turnpike and running through Edison, Metuchen and South Plainfield, will be resurfaced starting in 2007, Phalon said.
Route 80 exit
Meanwhile, the long-awaited restructuring of the Route 80 interchange will begin in 2009, Phalon said. The winding exit from 287 North onto westbound 80 has been blamed for truck rollovers.
AAA in New Jersey spokeswoman Pam Fischer said she avoids the exit from eastbound Route 80 onto 287 South.
"It's horrible," Fischer said.
Smoothing out potholes and other perfections, while costly and time-consuming, should continue to be doable despite the perilous standing of the Transportation Trust Fund.
There are no easy, big-picture solutions, though some additional courtesy on the highway would help.
"I was taught that the middle lane was the one you travel on. The left is for passing. The right is for on and off," Bond said.
Now there's a lesson that seems to have been forgotten, or at least ignored.
I'd enjoy hearing from readers about their Route 287 driving experiences, and any suggestions on highway improvements are encouraged.
The Road Crew blog is at http://www.dailyrecord.com/blogs/roadcrew/
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 12:19 PM
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