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The Commissioner's Report
(archived)
Safety Impact Team
conducts safety review of Route 1
More than 700 people died in motor vehicle crashes in New Jersey last year. The McGreevey Administration is committed to improving safety and saving lives on New Jersey highways.
In March, Governor McGreevey unveiled Safety First, the first comprehensive highway safety initiative in New Jersey in the last two decades.
And, in May, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to welcome the Federal Highway Administration's Safety Impact Team. Over the course of one week, the Team completed a thorough safety review of a ten-mile stretch of Route 1, of of the 13 designated "Safe Corridors" under the Governor's Safety First program. "Safe Corridors" are stretches of road that have more accidents than the state average.
The Safety Impact Team is comprised of individuals with various backgrounds and expertise from the NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, the Federal Highway Administration, state and local law enforcement, the Federal Motor Carrier Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Team observed ten hours of traffic on Route 1 between Franklin Corner Road in Lawrence Township and Ridge Road in South Brunswick. Identified as a traffic hotspot, more than 677,000 vehicles travel through this corridor every day. In the last two years more than 1,400 accidents occured along the ten-mile corridor.
The Team will issue a full report and recommendations for improving safety within two months to the NJDOT. Recommendations will include short, medium and long-term fixes, incorporating the 'three Es,' engineering, education and enforcement.
However, the NJDOT will not wait to implement some of the Team's immediate recommendations. An interim plan to be executed immediately will include improving signal timing for cars and pedestrians at intersections, a full review of all directional signals along the highway, acceleration of scheduling for pavement resurfacing projects and exploring the establishment of a driver safety partnership with the business community.
Improvements made as a result of Safety Impact Teams will reduce the risk of accidents on this corridor. The review is the first in a series that will be conducted on "Safe Corridors" throughout New Jersey.
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