New Jersey Turnpike Authority 2011 Capital Project & Investment Plan 1 2011 Capital Project & Investment Plan James S. Simpson, Chairman, Commissioner NJDOT Michael R. Du Pont, Treasurer Ulises E. Diaz, Commissioner David G. Evans, Commissioner Harold L. Hodes, Commissioner Raymond M. Pocino, Commissioner Troy Singleton, Commissioner Veronique Hakim, Executive Director December 2010 2 Table of contents Introduction Page 4 Capital Investment Map Page 6 Congestion Management Page 7 Consolidating Services & Operational Support Page 10 Infrastructure Maintenance Page 12 Safety Page 15 Environmental Compliance & Green Corridor Initiatives Page 17 Economic Development Page 18 Capital Investment Plan Page 22 New Jersey Turnpike Authority PO Box 5042 Woodbridge, NJ 07095-5042 3 Introduction The construction of the they continue to fuel the New Jersey Turnpike and economy of our state is a NJTA Garden State Parkway core strategic mission of sparked a period of unpar- the New Jersey Turnpike mission alleled economic growth in Authority (“the Authority”). New Jersey. When the toll That goal has a particular statement roads opened to traffic in urgency at a time when the 1950s, they enabled the national economy con- The New Jersey New Jersey to participate tinues to struggle. Turnpike Authority is fully in the prosperity of This Strategic Plan Up- dedicated to the post-war America. At a date & Capital Investment time when the state high- Plan for 2011 represents safe, efficient way system was perilously the Authority’s blueprint movement of people close to gridlock, the toll for fulfilling that core goal and goods over two roads created in New Jer- and others. It updates the of the busiest toll sey the highway capacity multi-year capital plan roads in America, necessary to accommodate adopted by the Authority the New Jersey 110 consecutive months in 2008 and the corre- Turnpike and the of economic growth. sponding financing pro- Garden State The toll roads remain grams. Parkway. Our an essential element in our This report is pre- highways are a state’s prosperity today. sented pursuant to NJSA critical link in the With the sea ports, air- 27:23-3.2, which requires ports and interstate high- the Authority to submit transportation ways, the Turnpike and certain reports to the Gov- network of the Parkway are part of a ernor, the Chairs of the Northeastern United transportation network Senate and General As- States and the that is New Jersey’s most sembly Appropriations safest, quickest and distinctive advantage in Committees and the Direc- most convenient the global economy. They tor of the Division of route for hundreds are critical to the flow of Budget and Accounting in of thousands of goods and people between the Department of Treas- commuters, truckers population and employ- ury. This strategic plan is and recreational ment centers in New Jersey mandated under para- travelers every day. and just beyond in New graph (c): “Prior to Decem- York City and Philadelphia. ber 1 of each year, the Au- They are links in the vital thority shall prepare and corridor that connects the file with the Commissioner cities of the East Coast. a Capital Project and In- Operating and main- vestment Plan that details taining the Turnpike and proposed transportation Parkway in such a way that projects and proposed 4 work on existing transporta- sey’s economy. tion projects that further the The projects described in goals of attaining coordinated this report are organized and integrated Statewide and around the benefits they offer regional transportation sys- to the Authority’s customers tems. The plan shall address, and to other residents of our among other matters, the inter- state. Many of the Authority’s connection of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway with other transporta- tion systems. The plan should also consider the impact of an im- proved transpor- tation system on the State’s econ- omy. …” The projects described in this report are inter- related with the Capital Plan of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and are capital projects offer more The Turnpike included in the Statewide than one benefit. Indeed, connects New Transportation Improvement nearly all of them could be Jersey to the Plan. classified as “economic devel- world by pro- Financed through bond pro- opment.” But for the purpose viding high- ceeds backed by future toll of organizing this report, pro- way access to revenue, the spending in the jects are grouped by the pri- the major cit- Capital Plan represents consid- mary benefit they offer into ies of the East erable investment in the future one of the following catego- Coast, along of our state. It includes large ries: congestion management; with conven- projects that will add lanes to consolidating services and op- ient access to the Turnpike and Parkway and erational support; infrastruc- rail lines, the smaller ones that will expand ture maintenance; safety; envi- ports of New- interchanges, rehabilitate ronmental compliance and ark and Eliza- bridges or deploy new tech- Green Corridor initiatives; and beth and New- nologies. The work will create economic development. ark Liberty jobs and strengthen New Jer- International Airport. 5 6 Congestion Management Widening the New Jersey Turnpike Traffic volumes on the Widening the road be- New Jersey Turnpike con- tween Interchanges 6 and tinue to increase steadily, 9 will ease the burden for Turnpike but the increase between the commuters and com- Widening Interchanges 6 and 8A has mercial drivers who sit in been dramatic. The volume heavy traffic in that area Timeline in that area today is nearly nearly every day. double the 1990 volume; The Turnpike widening 2005 Preliminary as a result, drivers who use program will be the largest engineering/ the Turnpike in that area expansion of Turnpike ca- Environmental have experienced more fre- pacity since the roadway Impact study quent periods of traffic opened in 1951, adding an completed congestion in recent years. additional 170 lane miles If ignored, the problem to the 35-mile stretch of would likely get worse. Be- roadway between Inter- 2009 Permits issued tween 2005 and 2032, changes 6 in Mansfield by New Jersey population and employ- Township, Burlington Department of Environmental ment numbers in central County, and 9 in East Protection New Jersey are expected to Brunswick, Middlesex increase by 17.5 percent County. This project will and 28.2 percent respec- add three lanes in each di- 2009 Ground breaking tively. The volume of rection between Inter- ceremony held at goods moving from Port changes 6 and 8A and one Interchange 8 Newark and Port Elizabeth lane to the outer set of Maintenance will continue to grow. Ex- lanes in each direction be- Yard in East pansions at the Port of NY/ tween Interchanges 8A and Windsor NJ and growth at Newark 9. The project is scheduled 2014 Projected Liberty International Air- to be completed by 2014. completion date port will also contribute to The Authority antici- increased traffic along the pates awarding a total of roadway. By 2032, 28 construction contracts southbound traffic volume for the widening program. is expected to increase by By the end of 2010, the 92 percent and Authority expects to have northbound traffic volume awarded 26 of those con- by nearly 68 percent. New tracts with a construction Jersey has simply outgrown value of approximately that section of the high- $1.4 billion. The final two way. contracts will be awarded 7 This photo illustration shows how the Turnpike will look near Interchange 7 when the widening program is complete. in 2011. New Jersey more attrac- Congestion relief on tive to business. More- an artery as important as over, the widening pro- the Turnpike provides an gram will provide a sig- economic benefit to New nificant direct economic Jersey; improving the flow benefit by creating and of goods and the mobility sustaining thousands of of the state’s workforce jobs in the construction reduces the cost of oper- and consulting industries. The first phase of the ating here and makes Garden State Parkway widening includes a third lane of travel in Widening the Garden State Parkway each direction between mileposts 63 and 80, The Garden State Park- the year and is expected the rehabilitation and way Widening Program, to be completed in De- construction of the when complete, will add cember. Work on the Mullica River Bridge one travel lane in each three roadway contracts and the installation of direction and full-width between mileposts 63 and high-speed E-ZPass at shoulders on both sides 80.3 also continued. The the Barnegat Toll Plaza of the road between Inter- first phase of the widen- (pictured below) change 30 in Somers ing is scheduled to be Point and Interchange 80 completed by the summer in Toms River. One hun- of 2011. dred new lane miles will The design of Phase II be added to the Parkway also continued through over an area that passes 2010. The Authority se- through 14 municipalities lected three design firms in Ocean, Burlington and to develop plans for wid- Atlantic counties. ening from Interchange The construction of 48 to 63, one firm to de- Phase I of the widening velop plans to widen and began in 2009 and con- rehabilitate the Bass River tinued in 2010. Construc- Bridge at milepost 51.9, tion of the new Mullica one firm to develop plans River Bridge crossing pro- to widen and rehabilitate gressed steadily through the Patcong Creek Bridge 8 at milepost 31.0 and one tirely inside the existing GSP Parkway firm to complete grading and right-of-way. The environ- drainage improvements from mental mitigation require- Widening Interchange 30 to 48. Phase ments for the entire Inter- Timeline II continues to be supervised change 30 to 80 program 2003 Preliminary by a program management were met with the purchase engineering team.