Bid process begins for Route 1 widening project
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — The longawaited widening of Route 1 took another step forward recently as the state Department of Transportation (NJDOT) started receiving bids on the initial phase of a sixphase plan.

"We are in the process of analyzing the bids in order to select a firm to develop a concept for the project," said Erin Phalon, spokesperson for the NJDOT.

Phalon said the contract for the design of the project will be awarded in the fall and that this part of the project will cost $2 million of federal funding.

The NJDOT recently unveiled a 10- year capital plan to improve the congestion on Route 1. Also ongoing is a Smart Growth study that should be completed by the end of 2008. The entire 10-year plan will cost $356 million, according to South Brunswick Councilman Joe Camarota, who is excited about the positive steps that the NJDOT is taking.

"I'm very happy, very pleased, even though it's taken a little longer than we all want," Camarota said.

On July 17, Camarota and other town officials met with members of the DOT. DOT officials told Camarota of their intention to change the name of the project from the Route 1 Widening to the Route 1 Bottleneck Relief.

Camarota said the scope of the project, which is to extend Route 1 to six lanes, remained the same. He was pleased with the meeting and what the DOT told him.

"They said they're committed to this project," Camarota said. "They recommended we go for a plan endorsement. They want us to be the poster child for land use and traffic improvement."

Camarota said the DOT also recommended that all decisions on new construction on Route 1 go through the state, so that it would not impair their ability to widen the area.