History
The New Jersey Department
of Transportation's (NJDOT)
Bureau of Project Scope
Development completed a Feasibility
Assessment Study in
2000 to determine the transportation
problems and needs for
Route 3 from Main Avenue
in Clifton, Passaic County
to the Route 17 Interchange
in Lyndhurst and Rutherford,
Bergen County.
The study resulted in the selection of
an Initial
Preferred Alternative (IPA) for replacement
of the Route 3 Bridge over the Passaic
River and improvement of Route 3 and
its accesses to enter and exit Route
3, to conform to current design standards.
The IPA was accepted by the North
Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA)
in 2001.
The project completed
the Final
Scope Development and Technical
Environmental Studies stage.
This stage refined the
IPA and determined environmental
effects that will influence
the design, such as wetlands,
noise and air quality,
possible hazardous materials
in adjacent land or water,
archaeological concerns,
historic buildings or structures
and socio-economic considerations.
As
part of the Final Scope
Development process,
copies of the project
Environmental Assessment
and Technical Environment
Studies were sent in
August 2002 to the appropriate
federal, state, county
and local governments,
as well as public and
private agencies, for
review and comment. Written
comments from the public
were also accepted for
two weeks following the
Public Hearings.
Once all the comments were received,
appropriate responses were prepared.
A summary of the comments and responses
was then forwarded to the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), together with
a request for a Finding of No Significant
Impact (FONSI) for the project. In June
2003, the FHWA issued the FONSI, concurring
that the project is needed and that the
environmental issues and impacts have
been addressed by appropriate mitigation
measures and authorized proceeding to
the next phase, Preliminary Design. A
FONSI package was distributed to federal,
state, county and local governments in
February 2004 for record purposes. The
project was on hold from June 2003 to
December 2003 due to lack of design funds.
Design funds were allocated in November
2003 and the Preliminary Design Phase
began and was
completed in early 2005.
Commencement of the Final
Design phase was delayed
due to funding issues
experienced by NJDOT
towards the end of
2005. As a result the
project was "smart
sized", splitting the
large project into smaller components
to have more competitive bidding.
This phase commenced in February
2007 and was completed in January
2010. Construction will begin
in 2010 and
be completed in stages in order
to minimize construction impacts
on the community and expedite
construction.
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