Lettiere opens
Campus Road interchange
and Route 18 northbound lanes in Piscataway
(Piscataway)- New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Jack
Lettiere today announced that the opening of the New Campus Road
Interchange and Route 18 northbound lanes will take place this
month, on schedule, and in time for the beginning of the new school
year.
The opening of this interchange marks a major milestone
in the Route 18 Piscataway project and means that motorists will
have easy access to the Rutgers University Busch Campus from Route
18.
The Campus
Road Interchange will open on August 17th and the northbound
Route 18 through lane will open on August 24th . This
milestone meets NJDOT's commitment to Rutgers University to provide
easy access to Busch Campus in time for the new school year.
"The extension
of Route 18 in Piscataway marks a significant achievement for
Middlesex County," said Commissioner Lettiere. "We are
making investments in safety, congestion relief and quality of
life along the Route 18 corridor over the next several years,
and this project is at the apex of that investment. The
milestone we are announcing today will provide easy access to
the Busch Campus from Route 18, and is only possible through a
strong commitment to transportation funding by Governor McGreevey."
Prior to the
construction of this project, Route 18 ended at River Road on
the east side of the Raritan River. This project extends
Route 18 from River Road to the Hoes Lane extension through Piscataway.
This project is the first phase of the extension of Route
18 to I-287.
The
$78 million project, which began construction in the summer of
2002, extends Route 18 from the John Lynch Bridge to Hoes Lane
and includes the construction of a new alignment with new interchanges
at River Road, Rutgers Busch Campus and Metlars Lane/Livingston
Campus. This project will be complete by the end of 2004.
The
final phase, currently estimated at $42 million in total project
cost, will complete the connection of Route 18 to I-287 by converting
Hoes Lane into part of Route 18. This phase will include
new signalized intersections, sidewalks and bike/pedestrian paths.
Both projects will make Route 18 a continuous four-lane,
1.7 mile, arterial-highway extending through Piscataway Township.
NJDOT will begin design work during FY05 and will look
to begin the right of way process soon thereafter.
"This
is a step forward toward much needed infrastructure improvements
to move traffic more efficiently in Central New Jersey,"
said Senator Bob Smith.
"I am
excited about the completion of the project. This will
provided much needed relief to this congested area. I want
to thank the DOT for lending its support to this project," said
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula.
These
investments in the rehabilitation of Route 18 are possible through
NJDOT's Capital Program, which is funded by the State's Transportation
Trust Fund (TTF) and the federal TEA-21. Governor McGreevey
recently signed the FY 2005 budget, finalizing the $2.58 billion
Capital Program for NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT. The FY 2005 Capital
Program is a fiscally responsible, robust investment in New Jersey's
transportation network. The capital program fulfills Governor
McGreevey's commitment to improving safety, easing congestion
by using smart growth and fix-it-first strategies, and providing
needed property tax relief to New Jersey's counties and municipalities.
The Capital Program will facilitate the movement of over
$7 billion worth of goods and services and directly support over
100,000 jobs. Roughly $1.4 billion of the capital program
is for use by the NJDOT, and $1.2 billion by NJ TRANSIT.
