Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

iJayZen t1_jaa7lgg wrote

Don't hold your breath. The Hillsborough bypass took a long time to materialize. An East/West route has no open space for it.

32

valeofraritan t1_jacxf9y wrote

Oh, you think 40 years is too long?

2

iJayZen t1_jad2yac wrote

Tell me about it. Very surreal for me as when it was finally opened the last of my parents was near death. I wanted to make a big deal of it opening but I barely mentioned it. So yes, too friggin long.

1

valeofraritan t1_jad6qu3 wrote

It finally got approved and then, nah, let's not put money into it for more years.

Every time someone mentions the Bypass, all I think about is the Township's Planning Game" where they asked people to participate, when I say participate it was intended to make them feel like they were included, in the planning.

1

Responsible-Low-4613 t1_jaa82xy wrote

Better??? It needs any east/west routes

28

pork_roll t1_jaevnu9 wrote

Yea currently in East Brunswick and anything east or west is 45 minutes away.

1

Dead_Is_Better t1_jaaw1f8 wrote

I-195 enters the chat.

17

sharkethic86 t1_jadno90 wrote

78 and 195 are solid east-west but they are too far north or south respectively to be convenient for those of us who live in CENTRAL JERSEY. In fact, they are our borders :)

2

Dead_Is_Better t1_jae55dz wrote

Actually the Central Jersey borders are the Driscoll Bridge (Raritan River) to the North and Lacey Township (Exit 73 of the GSP) to the South and I-195 runs just about through the middle of those two points.

−2

tpittari t1_jabkk03 wrote

I used to live in Brick and work in Princeton. That lasted about a year until I finally had to move there.

The commute was killing me, but I was always early because I could never time it right for fear of being late.

I moved into an apartment less than 2 blocks from work and I was late every day.

14

Obvious_Ad9670 t1_jaash43 wrote

Why? It's called induced demand and we don't need any more of that in NJ

13

sutisuc t1_jad9o2x wrote

The majority of this sub needs a crash course in induced demand.

3

warrensussex t1_jadvd2c wrote

Induced demand is definitely a thing, but at some point with population growth you do need to add and expand roads and ideally add more public transportation.

1

Obvious_Ad9670 t1_jadvr3g wrote

The problem with *our* public transportation is that if it takes a second longer than people don't want to take it. Roads cut neighborhoods in half and I will always be against them.

1

storm2k t1_jacshlq wrote

thank unchecked rampant development in the 1980s and 1990s for most of that. the road network that exists around here was fine for the levels of traffic and devleopment that existed until then, when the children of retiring farmers did not want to continue that business and developers were paying through the nose for land, so all that farmland got sold, overdeveloped with sprawl, and now here we are. and it's not changing. major new freeway level development is pretty much going to be dead in new jersey forever at this point. nimbys will kill all of it as they killed the somerset freeway and many other projects.

10

Training-Gur2214 t1_jac2u8n wrote

Honestly, I'd prefer better public transportation. I think NJ would benefit from more light rail transportation than highways and roads. Especially since the ones we have are barely maintained as is (I'm in Mercer County).

7

uplandsrep t1_jadw6ec wrote

Louder for the folks in the back, everyone gets sticker shock at the cost of establishing a rail line but they don't even consider the same cost to set up an arterial road, and more importantly, the severe maintenance cost and inefficient use of space that comes with automobile access.

3

Training-Gur2214 t1_jadwxst wrote

Exactly. People keep asking for more walkable communities and parks and green spaces, but then want more highways that will fill up all of that space. It makes no sense.

1

Maximum_Locksmith_29 t1_jaa0tst wrote

Where?

6

Dozzi92 t1_jaa3an3 wrote

Just knock down homes and pave over rivers.

20

Obvious_Ad9670 t1_jaascsq wrote

Start with tearing down the home of the guy complaining. Tear down his work place as well.

9

sutisuc t1_jad9q3l wrote

Then complain about more flooding and lack of green space!

3

Rainbowrobb t1_jab5szo wrote

I'm not finding anything volunteering to bulldoze their home or place of work.

6

Joe-0916 t1_jaa7i4c wrote

There was supposed a few routes but they never got built.

2

GraysonFerrante t1_jaag59p wrote

Yup - Princeton Bypass was from 8A to 206 in Rocky Hill - coming thru my family property in Kingston. Was in the works for years and planning experts kept talking about ‘east west travel desires’. Ended up being the Hightstown bypass only.

5

dirty_cuban t1_jaatnlx wrote

I work in Princeton just south of the Rocky Hill border. This would make my commute soo much better because 206 blows.

4

valeofraritan t1_jad415n wrote

Hillsborough to pseudo Princeton (areas that have the zip but aren't even in the same county) went from 15 mins when my sister did it in 1988 to 1 hour 15 minutes when I did it in the late 00s. It's accrued development and traffic.

County and backroads were always faster than 206 for me, but still about 50 minutes total commute. Have a friend working at Princeton U and living in Bridgewater, the Bypass helps a bit since it shaves off 15-20 mins in rush hour, but direct routes always get the most traffic.

You gotta learn to do the county road boogie and avoid all possible times when school buses will mess with your commute. But unfortunately, people find those, too. RIP Dukes Parkway West/Auten Road in Hillsborough.

1

Richard__Juul t1_jacaxka wrote

You guys shouldn't be complaining. The fastest way from Hammonton to Salem takes you to Camden first

2

Longtermthrowaway5 t1_jaajeca wrote

Route 18? 287?

1

newport100 t1_jaar2wq wrote

Those are both North-South. 18 doesn’t even touch Somerset County, AFAIK. 287 gets you from one county to another, but it’s not really centralized in either of those counties so it only serves certain parts of both counties conveniently.

Edit: On second thought, 287 covers a good bit of both counties, but the main point is that it’s a N-S road.

0

ALC_PG t1_jab1v4l wrote

287 is oriented more E-W for most of the time it's in CNJ, hence it's quite crowded

9

Longtermthrowaway5 t1_jaatoyi wrote

18 basically ends right at Somerset county. 287 has that weird tail that goes east west between somerset and Middlesex then goes south north instead of north south

4

la_de_cha t1_jaaxhtq wrote

Fun fact. The reason it goes east west at that point was because they didn’t want to go through the Watchung mountains.

4

Mr_Matt_K t1_jaayiqw wrote

No, that part of 287 was supposed to be I-95, it'd come in from the north on the Turnpike at Exit 10, go west, split off and go southwest towards Belle Meade and Hopewell Township, and then resume on 295 south (or "west") around Route 31.

4

newport100 t1_jaaun3t wrote

Yeah but that little tail is pretty far away from large parts of both counties. To be extreme for examples’ sake, if I’m at exit 12 on 287, I’m still a ways away from towns like Montgomery or Jamesburg.

0

Longtermthrowaway5 t1_jaaxab1 wrote

The tail starts right at basically the center of Somerset county. You couldn't place an east/west road better in Somerset if the goal is to get it in the center. The problem is the counties are not lined up it wouldn't be an east/west road if it goes center to center. It would be Northwest/southeast

1

Nonamesdb t1_jaamu0u wrote

Going from South Jersey over, I have to go Turnpike up and then Parkway down to get to certain places

1

bladewing1989 t1_jacaf34 wrote

If I could get a decent road to from freehold to Trenton I would be so happy.

1

JimTheJerseyGuy t1_jacm3x2 wrote

And western NJ needs a north/south route that isn’t two-lane, undivided Route 31. But I’m not holding my breath.

1

sutisuc t1_jad9v4r wrote

Where are you gonna build it there that isn’t through forests or farms?

1

JimTheJerseyGuy t1_jadrggu wrote

Ideally, just widen 31 into a proper road. It's already been done between Clinton and Ringoes for the most part. The rest of the road get the same amount of traffic according to NJDOT but it's single lane each way with few, if any, places to pass and few jug handles to separate turning traffic. There have been numerous accidents on it near me in Warren County and it's only getting worse.

1

warrensussex t1_jadwmix wrote

That is way easier said than done in some areas. Around Hampton and Glen Gardner there are quite a few houses and business that are on 31, as well as Spruce Run (river, not the reservoir) runs right next to it.

1

PirateForward8827 t1_jacrxl3 wrote

New highways lead to new development, new development leads to more traffic. In the end you just have less green space and you're sitting in traffic on a highway instead of a country road.

1

crap_whats_not_taken t1_jadaf2b wrote

I'm in East Windsor. I call it the Bermuda Triangle: Turnpike, parkway, and 33. Everything in the middle there is just lost.

1

Lardsoup t1_jaba7be wrote

Welcome to New Jersey.

0

anthonymm511 t1_jaak2g6 wrote

Oh god yeah this is so true

−2