
In a debate over the wisdom of adding more lanes to the narrow tube Holland Tunnel from North Jersey, two arguments dominate.
The opposite of the plan has to do with the environment. Its case focuses on safety.
Now, there is a third idea up for debate – making the expansion and safety upgrade of the Holland Tunnel, but using the expanded highway for a dedicated bus lane. Robert Menendez Jr., who could soon represent the 8th Congressional District in the Holland Tunnel area, floated the plan to include buses because the $4.7 billion highway expansion project has been “polarizing.”
Menendez proposed the widened road be used for a dedicated bus lane and to create a truck-only exit and entrance ramp to bypass Bayonne’s local roads leading to the ports, according to a op-ed published last month.
Menendez said there is room to make this a more popular mass transportation corridor through bus rapid transit and dedicated bus lanes because of the population and business growth in Newark, Bayonne and Jersey City, the three cities affected by the proposal. of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
“You can create, I believe, a lot of demand and riders on that line by making that available because … it’s a corridor, that’s seen an increase in growth,” he said in an interview.
But his potential compromise hasn’t caught on much with the Turnpike Authority, or at least not yet.
Tom Feeney, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, would not say whether agency officials had considered Menendez’s proposal, but said they appreciated his “thoughtful proposals, his support of infrastructure investment, and his concern for the interests of the communities. along the Extension.”
The expansion plan and the backlash
The Turnpike Authority’s proposal, included in the 2020 capital plan, is to replace an 8.1-mile, long stretch of the Turnpike in four phases.
The first phase will replace the aging, 66-year-old Newark Bay Bridge leading to Newark Liberty International Airport; the second phase starts at the access point used by trucks at Bayonne ports and goes north to Liberty State Park; the third and fourth phases continue north to the Holland Tunnel entrance. There are nine toll lanes leading into the Holland Tunnel, with only two lanes of traffic through the tubes in either direction.
Related:Buses reduce congestion, but should they be excluded from the new tolls?
The project proposal includes different levels of expansion:
- Four lanes in each direction and shoulder space on the replaced Newark Bay Bridge;
- Three lanes and shoulders in each direction from Exit 14A to the Columbus Drive Exit;
- And add shoulders from there to Jersey Avenue.
About 80% of the proposed project area uses elevated structures, which the Turnpike Authority says need to be replaced.
Since the beginning of the year, opposition to the project has grown stronger with a coalition of environmentalists and local officials, including Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, coming out against the project. They filed a formal petition earlier this year against the project, saying it doesn’t comply with the governor’s executive order to reduce greenhouse gases and will worsen congestion over time, especially in the Holland Tunnel, where traffic from widened highway should be narrower with the same two pipes.
Doug O’Malley, director of the advocacy group Environment New Jersey, said that widening a highway for cars and trucks will worsen pollution, so more analysis and alternative solutions should be considered.
“It will take more time to have an open process to decide what is the best option for the entire region and whether a dedicated (bus rapid transit) line is the right solution,” said O ‘Malley, referring to the idea of having a dedicated lane to express bus service on this part of the Turnpike.
The petition was denied by the Turnpike Authority and the state Department of Transportation and Gov. Phil Murphy favored the project in August. The Democratic governor, who has championed new offshore wind projects and other green initiatives, said an increase in electric vehicles and improved mass transit by NJ Transit will ease environmental concerns. .
The road expansion has come under national scrutiny because of conversations about induced demand, the theory that more highway lanes will only temporarily relieve congestion because people will drive more on a less congested route. , which will eventually become crowded again. The Biden administration has even dedicated funding to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to help communities break freeways.
“If you add a lane and it’s BRT that’s good, a lot of people will move and maybe take the bus because it’s now more convenient and faster than sitting in your car,” said Robert Noland, director of Alan M .Vorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University. BRT is an acronym for “bus rapid transit.”
But, he added, “The traffic will return, it will not solve the congestion.”
A challenge for NJ buses
The eight-mile project area is not currently a popular route for NJ Transit; only five routes — Nos. 63, 64, 68, 81X and 120 — currently use that section of the Turnpike.
And taking bus rapid transit ideas — strategies that put buses on roads with dedicated lanes, signal prioritization technology and express routes — outside of New Jersey has proven challenging over the years.
Two NJ Transit bus lines incorporate components of bus rapid transit, such as priority traffic signal technology, using accessible buses and shelters, but most of ideas are not transferred from the planning to the construction stage. Menendez noted that now is a good time to talk about new BRT routes because NJ Transit is in the beginning stages of redesigning its bus network in Hudson County, which could create connections for BRT routes.
“Any recommendation to redesign the NJ TRANSIT bus network in Hudson County will be made after a careful review of the needs and opportunities to improve bus service. In the early stages and the completion date has not been established, “said NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith.
However, the Route 3 bridge in Secaucus is being rebuilt so that it has a future light rail line that will connect to the Secaucus Junction station. State Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said in January that it pointed out how the agency is not “only interested in building bigger and better roads, but we’re interested in a bigger and better good transportation system that serves everyone.”
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis supported the Turnpike expansion project, but welcomed Menendez’s ideas.
“I support the concept of a dedicated bus lane, because every fifty-seat bus can take fifty cars off the road during rush hour,” Davis said.
He also supports a dedicated truck interchange to get tractor trailers off the docks and bypass local streets, an idea he proposed years ago when Exit 14A was redesigned, but said that it is rejected.
Public hearings on the plans are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2023, with final engineering and design work also expected to take place next year. The construction of the first phase is planned to start in 2026.