Author(s)

R. Dresnack, E. Golub, D. Byers, A. Fekete, S. Manera, J. Mar, J. McQuillan & R. Sasor

Abstract

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), in December 2000, was responsible for completing construction of the last 1.8 miles of roadway on State Highway 21 in Passaic County, New Jersey. This project completed the "missing link" within the Route 21 corridor which, due to a lack of funding, the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 and political inattention for over 30 years, created a situation in which motorists traversing Route 21 northbound would have to traverse local streets through two urban municipalities to access other major highways to the north. The NJDOT, as part of their planning and design process, prepared a comprehensive environmental impact statement, which included information related to numerous meetings and discussions held with municipal and civic leaders for the purpose of assessing their sense of optimizing the highway alignment while minimizing its environmental impact on the municipalities. In addition, through supplemental funding provided from the Federal Highway Administration, a series of amenities and enhancements were provided to the respective communities (i.e. parks, landscaping, aesthetically upgraded noise barriers) as part of the construction process. Keywords: transportation planning, economic impacts, visual impacts, environmental impacts, transportation aesthetics, context sensitive design.

Keywords

transportation planning, economic impacts, visual impacts, environmental impacts, transportation aesthetics, context sensitive design.