SOUTH BRUNSWICK – The New Jersey Department of Transportation announced the Route 1 congestion relief project utilizing the shoulder as a travel lane during peak travel times in South Brunswick has cut commuting times by 50 percent and relieved congestion through the area.
As a result of the pilot project’s success, DOT is in the process of making this program a permanent improvement to Route 1.
“DOT prides itself on this type of out of the box thinking,” DOT Acting Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said in a prepared statement. “Traffic and congestion are a serious problem in New Jersey, especially along the busy Route 1 corridor. Working together, the department and local officials developed an innovative and cost-effective solution that improves safety and travel times on Route 1 that all motorists can appreciate.”
The pilot project, which began in June of 2017, allows cars to use the shoulder as a travel lane from 6-9 a.m. and from 4-7 p.m. weekdays on Route 1 northbound and southbound from Raymond Road to Promenade Boulevard in South Brunswick.
Route 1 is three lanes before and after this section of the highway, causing a bottleneck and delays where the three lanes merge to two lanes, according to the statement. The goal of the pilot project utilizing the shoulder as a travel lane during peak periods was to keep traffic flowing, reduce congestion and improve safety.
The DOT evaluated data over a six-month period and found using the shoulder as a travel lane resulted in three major improvements: travel times were reduced, more traffic was able to move through the area, and safety improved as traffic was spread out over three lanes instead of two, according to the statement.
Average speed during peak commuting times through the project limits improved from 13 mph in 2015 to 31 mph during the six-month evaluation period in 2017. That translates to cutting motorists commuting time in half through this stretch of roadway, saving motorists an average of four minutes each morning and evening, according to the statement.
In 2015, before the pilot program was initiated, that same section of Route 1 carried an average of 5,600 cars southbound from 6-9 a.m. on two lanes of traffic. In 2017, during the pilot program, it carried more than 6,000 cars on average across three lanes of traffic, according to the statement.
“It’s amazing how like-minded groups, in this case DOT and South Brunswick Township, can work in a cooperative and collaborative effort to solve a long standing egregious issue that many had claimed to be unsolvable,” South Brunswick Councilman South Brunswick Councilman Joseph J. Camarota, Jr. said in the statement.
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