New NJ Turnpike Widening Upsets Enviros as AECOM Wins $48M Study Contract

Yes. I wouldn't want to have been a property owner alongside the TP when they dual-dualized the stretches from

-just south of exit 8a (Route 32 to just south of exit 9 (Route 18)

and

-just south of exit 6 (PA TP) to just south of exit 8a.

Riding tour buses to NYC through that stretch a couple of times in the early 2010s, I could see where they had to lengthen the bridges over the turnpike.

Woke up, people!

NJ citizens need to move and live closer to their work, or work from home. This will reduce freeway traffic, eliminating this terrible, terrible red-violet (opposite of green) project.

But if this sad tragedy does happen, I wonder how many Emergency EV Charging Stations (EEVCS) they’ll put in...

One answer: Kalifornia highway history. Judging that history in many places is like trying to say which came first (the chicken or the egg), the highway building and highway expansions (more lanes) or the expansion of the suburbs.

The problem is I know from experience and observation with California that often the expansion (or building) of a highway led to expansion of suburbs that led to expansion of congestion that the highway expansion was supposedly going to relieve.

In time, one highway that was going to relieve congestion relieved from another highway proved to be temporary temporary solution worse.

I time the congestion on both highways grew back to the level the 2nd highway was supposedly going to change. Why? The 2nd highway was built in areas the suburbs were not that expanded into, but it and land in proximity to it stimulated massive new suburb development, which in time merely expanded the geographic range of congestion more than eliminating it. In time both the earlier highway and the later highway had equally bad congestion and even as bad the congestion level that was supposed to be relieved.

Am I saying land use laws should “halt” development every time? No.

I am saying the idea that any highway project to add a highway or expand one is justified on the idea of “relieving congestion” is often not true.

Often it is the real estate interests in gaining “government infrastructure” investment to make their own business model (suburban housing development) more profitable. Their developments will reduce the effectiveness of any relief of congestion.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.