Politics & Government

Chimney Rock Road to Get Safety Improvements

Project aimed at reducing accidents on winding road when wet.

Chimney Road Road will get improvements aimed at reducing accidents in wet weather, after the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority Board of Trustees announced approval of $4,275,000 for three road safety projects.

“These projects will help us protect motorists and pedestrians alike on what have been some of our county’s most crash-prone roadways,” Peter S. Palmer, Somerset County freeholder director and NJTPA board secretary, said. “I’m very pleased with the extraordinary commitment of federal funding the NJTPA has made to Somerset County through these programs.”

The projects were approved for grants through the NJTPA’s Fiscal Year 2014 Local Safety and High Risk Rural Roads programs, which provide federal funds to counties for high-impact safety improvements that are relatively “quick-fix” in nature and are ready for construction.

The Bridgewater project, projected to cost $311,000, will add skid-resistant surface treatment, high-visibility pavement markings and centerline rumble strips along the winding Chimney Rock Road between Thompson Avenue to Gilbride Road. 

The other projects include similar improvements to segments of Burnt Mills Road, Lamington Road and Pottersville Road in Bedminster; and adding high-visibility pedestrian markings and signs on Mountain Avenue between U.S. Highway 22 and Somerset Street in North Plainfield. 

In total, the NJTPA will allocate approximately $9.7 million for Local Safety Program projects and $5.4 million for High Risk Rural Road Program projects in FY 2014, which represents the largest investment since the programs’ inceptions. More information on these programs is available at www.njtpa.org/Project-Programs/Project-Development/Local-Safety.aspx

The NJTPA is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for 13 northern New Jersey Counties. Under federal legislation, MPOs provide a forum where local officials, public transportation providers and state agency representatives can come together and cooperatively plan to meet the region’s current and future transportation needs. It establishes the region’s eligibility to receive federal tax dollars for transportation projects.

The NJTPA Board consists of one local elected official from each of the 13 counties in the region (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren), and the cities of Newark and Jersey City. The Board also includes a Governor’s Representative, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the Executive Directors of NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a Citizen’s Representative appointed by the Governor.


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