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Traffic Bottlenecks

Traffic Bottlenecks > Combating Bottlenecks

Combating Bottlenecks

New Jersey

Corridor improvements, including access management techniques, to improve Route 17.

Bottleneck Project: Route 17 corridor, Bergen County (Boroughs of Hasbrouck Heights, Rutherford, and East Rutherford). Located in one of the most densely populated areas of the state, and in proximity to the Meadowlands district, Giants stadium, Port Elizabeth, and Port Newark. The project involves safety and capacity improvements at each intersection, centering on adding dedicated turn lanes and traffic signal optimization. The generally accepted solution that is needed is to convert the existing paved shoulder to an auxiliary lane in advance of each major intersection. There was generally positive support to improve this corridor, although residents in one residential section of highway near Meadow Road expressed concern about losing the protective shoulder area in front of their driveways. The Department responded by developing changes in the proposed roadway geometry that would continue to maintain some degree of shoulder separation past these driveways; i.e., using access management techniques to attempt to mitigate the corridor project.