Commissioner Lettiere opens Route 138
ramp
in Wall Township as part of Pipeline Initiative
(Trenton) - In another step towards improving traffic congestion and safety, Commissioner Lettiere announced the opening of the Route 138 Ramp onto Route 18 in Wall Township and unveiled a new Pipeline Initiative, which will cut costs and turnaround time for projects statewide.
The project, accelerated through DOT's Pipeline Initiative, redesigned portions of the ramp connecting it to northbound Rte 18. Commissioner Lettiere appeared in Wall Township Tuesday with Senator Joseph Palaia and Mayor Mary Burne to open the ramp and make the announcement.
"This project is an example of how our Pipeline Initiative will allow us to get our work done more quickly, efficiently and help us meet Governor McGreevey's goals of reducing congestion and improving the quality of life for New Jerseyans," said Lettiere. "This new system will reduce design costs, shave years off delivery time and allow us to double the number of projects we put out on the street within 2 years from $520 million annually to more than $1 billion."
In Wall Township, one of four new pipeline models was used to bring in bids just 22 days after township officials notified NJDOT about safety concerns on Route 138. Within six months, the ramp was reconfigured and opened. The $300,000 project involved eliminated a weave condition that forced vehicles exiting Route 18 southbound to cross traffic on Route 138 in order to reach Route 18 northbound. An old, unused ramp was resurfaced, rebuilt and realigned.
The Pipeline Initiative was developed based on recommendations from a Project Pipeline Task Force that was charged with developing a more efficient way for NJDOT to move projects onto the street and complete them. The task force was comprised of NJDOT staff, representatives of the Consultant Engineers Council, and members of the construction industry throughout the state.
Instead of using one model for developing and implementing projects, NJDOT now selects one of four models that best suit the complexity of a project. The new Pipeline Initiative will allow NJDOT to reduce design costs by 25%, reduce the number of staff on many projects by up to half, cut the number of steps on an average project by 50 and shave years off completion dates. Typically, it takes 2.5 to 6 years to develop designs and secure a contractor for projects. With the new models, that timeframe can now be cut to a year in many cases.
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