Posted on 08/15/2021 10:35:52 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
It was already one of the longest and most expensive road-building projects in New Jersey, and it just got longer and even more costly.
The Direct Connection project, designed to smooth traffic flows on I-295 at Bellmawr in Camden County, hit a major tie-up in late March with the collapse of a new retaining wall on the northbound side of the highway. That collapse forced one lane to close while repairs were made, and leading the Department of Transportation to warn of “heavy congestion” at an already notorious interchange where the interstate meets I-76 and Route 42. The lane was reopened on April 21.
It’s one of the busiest intersections in the state, a focal point for traffic going to and from Delaware, on and off the Walt Whitman Bridge to Philadelphia, and to and from Atlantic City and other parts of the Jersey Shore.
The wall’s collapse, the cause of which is still being determined, has further extended an already-delayed project that began in 2013, was first due for completion in 2022 and then extended until 2028 because of utility problems, acquisition of additional rights of way, and revisions to some parts of the project including a pier system that will carry traffic from 42 northbound onto I-295. Now, it seems sure to face another delay.
DOT officials say they won’t know why the wall fell, how long it will take to repair or rebuild it, or who was responsible, until a “forensic investigator” completes a probe on the causes of the incident, perhaps by the end of April.
DOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti insisted that she won’t be able to estimate a new timeline for the highway project itself until after she has received the investigator’s report. But she acknowledged that another delay is inevitable.
(Excerpt) Read more at njspotlight.com ...
PING!
In Texas, you see some dozers clearing land. You drive by 3 months later and see a strip mall with all stores displaing GRAND OPENING TODAY signs.
In Jersy, you see some dozers clearing land. You drive by 7 years later and see the same 10 union guys watching 1 guy shovel dirt on the platt.
During the 1970s, New Jersey pretty much stopped highway improvements in South Jersey due to gas costs, concentrating its efforts in North Jersey instead. The state has been playing catch-up since then.
This should have been corrected in 1964, so all are paying a price right now.
In New York where I live, people have been talking for decades about removing an unsightly overpass which was built in the 1950s. But to replace it with what?
I joked “a tunnel” and everyone laughed, knowing that American government (particularly blue America) simply can’t build things cheaply or easily any longer.
Camden County...
New Jersey...
Construction Contracts...
Delays...
Faulty construction...
If you fell asleep in 1960...
Wake up in 2021...
Nothing has changed...
Not exactly. A number of traffic circles have been replaced with interchanges, as well as some very dangerous intersections on Routes 38 and 70. It hasn't been total stasis.
See Boston’s “Big Dig”.
5 months later, and the cause of the collapse still remains a mystery...
“Yo — you don’t need to know — fawgedabowdit”
Just a month ago we were talking about it. I asked why it was removed/rerouted: “the body count”. :)
Is that the monstrous circle on US 40 about halfway between the Turnpike and Atlantic City?
Maybe not; the one I’m thinking about was out in the boonies, amazingly enough.
The Pleasantville Circles on Route 40/322 have been replaced by a complicated dual intersection with traffic lights.
Hubby’s brother and his family are still in the area. The wife remembers when, on a dare, her older sister drove the Ellisburg Circle in reverse. (In the proper direction and all...just driving the car in reverse. 😂😂. No one seemed phased. Probably the 1970’s) ;)
Thanks. I still remember that thing on Route 40 from 2001 in the middle of nowhere: a giant traffic circle in the boonies!
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