NJDOT hosts Smart Choices workshops

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), in collaboration with the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey and Project for Public Spaces, will host a series of workshops on combating traffic and sprawl throughout the state. The series is called New Jersey Smart Choices.

Commissioner Jack Lettiere and other officials and industry experts will cover critical topics facing New Jersey communities. They include NJDOT’s new Future in Transportation policy and its affect on land use and local transportation planning.

In addition, speakers will highlight affordable transit options and discuss strategies to discourage excessive automobile use by providing safe places to bike and walk. Workshop attendees will learn new ways to balance development, redevelopment and preservation with other aspects of transportation.

The first program, “Working with NJDOT’s future in transportation policy,” was held on October 7 at Raritan Valley Community College.”

The remaining scheduled workshops are:

• “Retrofitting car-oriented corridors into community-friendly streets”
  Friday, October 14, 2005
  8:15 am to 4 pm
  Middlesex County Planning Board
  40 Livingston Avenue
  New Brunswick
  
• “Planning land use and transportation for transit”
  Friday, November 4, 2005
  8:15 am to 4 pm
  College of New Jersey
  Ewing
  
• “Creating sustainable land use and transportation plans”
  Monday, December 5, 2005
  8:15 am to 1:30 pm
  Hominy Hill Golf Course Clubhouse
  Colts Neck

For more information, visit www.njsmartchoices.org or call 609.771.2832.