NJDOT 'Complete
Streets' Policy receives
top
ranking from National Complete
Streets Coalition
(Trenton) - The
New Jersey Department of Transportation
(NJDOT) has been recognized as a national
leader for advancing ‘Complete Streets'
policies which promote safety for
pedestrians, bicyclists and other
users of New Jersey roadways.
NJDOT's Policy received the highest
ranking among the more than 210 communities
and states that have adopted formal
Complete Streets policies, according
to a new
report released by the National
Complete Streets Coalition. New Jersey
was one of the first ten states in
the nation to make Complete Streets
an official internal policy.
“Our ‘Complete Streets' policy enhances
safety for all users of our roads
by integrating the needs of pedestrians,
bicyclists and others into the earliest
stages of project planning and design,” said
NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson. “This
approach is far more cost-effective
than retrofitting improvements
into a completed project.”
NJDOT finalized a 'Complete Streets'
policy in December 2009. The policy
requires that future roadway improvement
projects include safe accommodations
for all users, including bicyclists,
pedestrians, transit riders and the
mobility-impaired.
This policy is implemented through
the planning, design, construction,
maintenance and operation of new or
rehabilitated transportation facilities
within public rights-of-way that are
federally or state funded, including
projects processed or administered
by the Department.
Some high-profile projects in New
Jersey that feature ‘Complete Streets'
elements:
- The new Route 36 Highlands
Bridge over the Shrewsbury
River, opened to traffic in December
2010, incorporates a complete street
design that provides a new
pedestrian overpass in Sea Bright.
- Both the on-going Route 52 Causeway
replacement project in Somers
Point and Ocean City and the
proposed Route 72 Manahawkin Bay
bridge rehabilitation project in
Stafford and Ship Bottom will both
fully accommodate all users upon
completion.
- A proposed reconfiguration
of Route 45 in Woodbury Township
will convert the multi-lane roadway
into a narrower roadway with
new turning movements and multi-use
accommodation.
According the complete Streets Coalition
report, adoption of Complete Streets
policies has been accelerating, with
the number of communities adopting
policies roughly doubling each of
the last three years. More than 200
policies directing transportation
professionals to begin transforming
their transportation networks into ‘Complete
Streets' were in place by the end
of 2010.
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