NJDOT breaks ground on Route 82 Union County streetscape and safety improvements
(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Kris Kolluri today joined Assemblyman Joseph Cryan and Union Township Mayor Peter Capodice to officially kick off the construction of a new streetscape and intersection improvement project in Union County. The $19 million project will provide streetscape and safety amenities along Route 82 between Stuyvesant Avenue in Union Township and Orchard Street in Elizabeth City.
“Rehabilitating Route 82 in Elizabeth and Union will significantly improve safety and congestion,” said Commissioner Kolluri. “This project shows that we can increase the quality of life and make our communities safer through roadway improvements.”
Intersection improvements at four intersections along Route 82 will improve traffic flow and increase motorist safety. NJDOT will make safety improvements at Green Lane, Burke Parkway, Orchard Street and Lousons Road. These include the addition of opposing left turn lanes on Route 82 westbound and eastbound at the Lousons Road intersection; the addition of opposing left turn lanes with concrete islands on Route 82 westbound and eastbound at the Burke Parkway intersection; the addition of an exclusive right turn lane on Morris Avenue eastbound onto Green Lane at the entrance into Kean University. NJDOT also will add opposing left turn lanes on Morris Avenue westbound and eastbound and opposing left turn lanes on Orchard Street northbound and southbound.
NJDOT’s streetscape improvements will improve the experience of Route 82 pedestrians and motorists by implementing urban landscape/streetscape design ideas and concepts within the NJDOT right-of-way. Improvements will include decorative sidewalks, decorative light poles and luminaries and evergreen hedges. NJDOT also will plant street trees on medians and right of ways throughout the corridor.
NJDOT’s contractor, Daidone Electric Inc., is scheduled to complete the project in March 2008.