Jones Lang LaSalle
DOT alters plan for highway overhaul
Rt. 80 still slated for additional lane
Friday, March 31, 2006
BY AL FRANK
Star-Ledger Staff
Major modifications to the proposed $67.5 million overhaul of the interchange at Routes 80 and 287 in Parsippany were announced yesterday by the state Department of Transportation.
Just days after the agency said a second lane at northbound Route 287 Exit 41B was still under study, the project engineer said it has been ruled out at the hairpin curve leading to westbound Route 80, where many trucks have overturned.
However, project engineer George Worth said there will be an additional lane at Exit 43 off eastbound Route 80 to serve traffic headed for northbound Route 287. In a story in The Sunday-Star Ledger, the DOT said the lane long sought by local officials had been dropped from the latest plan.
Although the changes were greeted warmly by Parsippany officials, they and other residents attending a DOT information session at town hall still wished the state would speed things up at the 41-year-old interchange used by 100,000 vehicles daily.
"I'd like it to happen faster be cause it's long overdue," Mayor Michael Luther said of the plan that will take the DOT until 2013 to complete.
The interchange should be high priority, he added. "It's a big quality of life and a safety issue," Luther said. "When accidents occur, the highway empties and it's all on our local roads."
Although the DOT had hoped to begin construction next year, additions to the two-phase plan have pushed the start date for the first phase to October 2008.
The major additions to the original plan include introducing a more gradual ramp from southbound Route 287 to westbound Route 80 -- also called Exit 41B -- and a better ramp to northbound Route 287 from Smith Road.
The interchange saw 35 acci dents between July 2000 and July 2003, and nine of them involved tipped rigs, according to the DOT.
"Quite frankly, we're alarmed," Worth said, explaining the rate was much higher than anywhere else.
However, including a second lane on Route 287 north into Exit 41B's more gradual curve would only cause conflicts as traffic jock eyed for position in the new acceleration lane on Route 80, he said.
Even so, there will be relief for the motorists who frequently back up two miles to Route 10. That will come in the form of a longer stack ing lane for the exit, instead of the two lanes described Sunday.
Worth said drivers will have about a half-mile to slow and queue for the exit, compared to the 300 feet they have now. Meanwhile, motorists will continue to have two lanes as they head for eastbound Route 80 and Smith Road at Exit 41A while traffic continuing on northbound Route 287 will have three through lanes.
As for the additional lane at eastbound Route 80's Exit 43, it will only serve traffic headed for northbound Route 287 because an added lane for southbound Route 287 would involve moving sound barriers and encroach on wetlands. And the end result would only get motorists into another line "be cause (traffic) is going to be a parking lot" at that hour, Worth said.
The session attracted more Par sippany residents than commuters, and local concerns dominated the questions.
Julia and Robert Preston, who live in the historic Livingston-Benedict House just a stone's throw from Route 80, were pleased their request for a fence to buffer noise and vibrations would be honored.
"The noise isn't going away, but people are being responsive, which is nice," said Julia Preston, whose family has lived in the landmark home of New Jersey's first governor since 1857.
However, Tom Bluj was disappointed no measures were included to address his 13-year effort to gain improvements that would end the plethora of U-turns that plague Crestview Drive.
"Now they're telling me it's a county problem," Bluj said, after displaying a file of the dozens of letters he has written.
"I think this is giving false hope to a lot of people because it's not going to happen tomorrow," Council President Rosemarie Agostini said.
Despite DOT assurances that traffic projections take future growth into consideration, Agostini fretted that the improvements would be obsolete by the time they are built. "We have 3 million square feet of office space proposed. What happens to those additional cars?"
Al Frank covers Parsippany. He may be reached at afrank@starled ger.com or (973) 539-7910.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
DOT alters plan for highway overhaul
Rt. 80 still slated for additional lane
Friday, March 31, 2006
BY AL FRANK
Star-Ledger Staff
Major modifications to the proposed $67.5 million overhaul of the interchange at Routes 80 and 287 in Parsippany were announced yesterday by the state Department of Transportation.
Just days after the agency said a second lane at northbound Route 287 Exit 41B was still under study, the project engineer said it has been ruled out at the hairpin curve leading to westbound Route 80, where many trucks have overturned.
However, project engineer George Worth said there will be an additional lane at Exit 43 off eastbound Route 80 to serve traffic headed for northbound Route 287. In a story in The Sunday-Star Ledger, the DOT said the lane long sought by local officials had been dropped from the latest plan.
Although the changes were greeted warmly by Parsippany officials, they and other residents attending a DOT information session at town hall still wished the state would speed things up at the 41-year-old interchange used by 100,000 vehicles daily.
"I'd like it to happen faster be cause it's long overdue," Mayor Michael Luther said of the plan that will take the DOT until 2013 to complete.
The interchange should be high priority, he added. "It's a big quality of life and a safety issue," Luther said. "When accidents occur, the highway empties and it's all on our local roads."
Although the DOT had hoped to begin construction next year, additions to the two-phase plan have pushed the start date for the first phase to October 2008.
The major additions to the original plan include introducing a more gradual ramp from southbound Route 287 to westbound Route 80 -- also called Exit 41B -- and a better ramp to northbound Route 287 from Smith Road.
The interchange saw 35 acci dents between July 2000 and July 2003, and nine of them involved tipped rigs, according to the DOT.
"Quite frankly, we're alarmed," Worth said, explaining the rate was much higher than anywhere else.
However, including a second lane on Route 287 north into Exit 41B's more gradual curve would only cause conflicts as traffic jock eyed for position in the new acceleration lane on Route 80, he said.
Even so, there will be relief for the motorists who frequently back up two miles to Route 10. That will come in the form of a longer stack ing lane for the exit, instead of the two lanes described Sunday.
Worth said drivers will have about a half-mile to slow and queue for the exit, compared to the 300 feet they have now. Meanwhile, motorists will continue to have two lanes as they head for eastbound Route 80 and Smith Road at Exit 41A while traffic continuing on northbound Route 287 will have three through lanes.
As for the additional lane at eastbound Route 80's Exit 43, it will only serve traffic headed for northbound Route 287 because an added lane for southbound Route 287 would involve moving sound barriers and encroach on wetlands. And the end result would only get motorists into another line "be cause (traffic) is going to be a parking lot" at that hour, Worth said.
The session attracted more Par sippany residents than commuters, and local concerns dominated the questions.
Julia and Robert Preston, who live in the historic Livingston-Benedict House just a stone's throw from Route 80, were pleased their request for a fence to buffer noise and vibrations would be honored.
"The noise isn't going away, but people are being responsive, which is nice," said Julia Preston, whose family has lived in the landmark home of New Jersey's first governor since 1857.
However, Tom Bluj was disappointed no measures were included to address his 13-year effort to gain improvements that would end the plethora of U-turns that plague Crestview Drive.
"Now they're telling me it's a county problem," Bluj said, after displaying a file of the dozens of letters he has written.
"I think this is giving false hope to a lot of people because it's not going to happen tomorrow," Council President Rosemarie Agostini said.
Despite DOT assurances that traffic projections take future growth into consideration, Agostini fretted that the improvements would be obsolete by the time they are built. "We have 3 million square feet of office space proposed. What happens to those additional cars?"
Al Frank covers Parsippany. He may be reached at afrank@starled ger.com or (973) 539-7910.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 9:50 AM
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