SIAP: Route 18 Bridge over Route 1 Replacement

[mkollar]

I received an e-mail from the East Brunswick PD regarding this work and the upcoming public info. session being held on Tuesday, August 5, from 4-7 PM at 78 Bayard Street in New Brunswick.

www.state.nj.us/transportation/community/meetings/documents/handout080514dp.pdf

Those who travel the area daily have seen the electronic signs about the "major traffic shifts" planned. As far as I can tell, this should not significantly affect travel to football games as the games are on the weekends as opposed to Thursday nights. Also, work is supposed to take place on off-peak hours (8 PM - 5 AM).

If anyone is involved in this and would like to comment here or direct us to other sites for more info., please have at it.

 

[NotInRHouse]

That whole interchange is a deathtrap. Merging from the turnpike onto 18 north without ending up on 1 north is basically a human life game of frogger.

This new idea we have in NJ of just "fixing" bridges and not eliminating their fatal flaws- like what's happening with the Pulaski- has got to go.

18 needs to be widened over there with real on/off ramps and the access point to from the turnpike needs to be moved completely away from the intersection. And they need to ditch the light by the hotel and the one at Paulus Blvd.

 

[retired711]

Originally posted by NotInRHouse:
That whole interchange is a deathtrap. Merging from the turnpike onto 18 north without ending up on 1 north is basically a human life game of frogger.

This new idea we have in NJ of just "fixing" bridges and not eliminating their fatal flaws- like what's happening with the Pulaski- has got to go.

18 needs to be widened over there with real on/off ramps and the access point to from the turnpike needs to be moved completely away from the intersection. And they need to ditch the light by the hotel and the one at Paulus Blvd.

NIRH is right that it's a dangerous, but understates matters. One also has to be careful not to avoid Route 1 North *too* much for fear of being swept on to Route 1 South. The interchange is obviously a relic of an era in which the New Brunswick area attracted much less traffic.

 

[HPNJRUfan]

Originally posted by NotInRHouse:
That whole interchange is a deathtrap. Merging from the turnpike onto 18 north without ending up on 1 north is basically a human life game of frogger.

Not just that, but try making a U-turn from Route 1 South to North using 18 at certain times of the day. If its rush hour (stand still traffic) or if its the middle of the night (zero traffic) its doable, but good luck any other time.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

That interchange area is on of many in NJ that make me shake my head everytime I think that some group of engineers actually designed it. Same with the I287-I80 interchange. I know that traffic changes over time but good lord people have a little foresight!

New Jersey (and NY and much of the US) is in big trouble with its infrastructure deficiencies and no good end in sight. A road widening project in my town that is 1.5 miles long has taken five years and is still not complete.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I have no real historical background on this intersection, but I could imagine that it was not a full-direction intersection at some time past. That is, I'd guess that there was a time when you could not go from Route 1 south to Route 18 east (south). There are still plenty of intersection in New jersey that do not provide the ability to get on where you got off.. that sort of thing. And New Brunswick is the "Hub City" because of all the roads that go through it. And that is and old nickname.

 

[Upstream]

The intersection was a traffic circle at one time

 

[Scarlet Pride]

Originally posted by Upstream:
The intersection was a traffic circle at one time

Which means they probably had an opportunity to do a proper upgrade since they eliminated the circle.

 

[retired711]

Originally posted by Upstream:
The intersection was a traffic circle at one time

How long ago was that? I first started using Route 18i/Route 1 in 1980, and the current configuration was there then.

 

[Korbermeister]

I'd assume money & politics kept them from building a proper cloverleaf, like how Old bridge turnpike @ rt. 18 south was upgraded to a 1/4 cloverleaf/traffic light combo instead of an overpass

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by camdenlawprof:

Originally posted by Upstream:
The intersection was a traffic circle at one time

How long ago was that? I first started using Route 18i/Route 1 in 1980, and the current configuration was there then.

I don't know about a circle but I do know there were changes made while I was at RU in the mid 80s.

 

[Upstream]

It was a circle in the 1950s. The current configuration was in place in the 1960s


This post was edited on 8/7 7:17 AM by Upstream

 

[NotInRHouse]

There are a lot of opportunities. The state doesn't want to fork over the funds for anything not on the verge of collapse and even then it's only to fix the bare minimum. Plus, all the NIMBY types in residential areas around the intersection would go ballistic and no one has the cajones to take them on.

 

[retired711]

An improvement in signage would help *a lot.* The unsuspecting driver comes on the Route 1 North and Route 1 South exists with virtually no warning because the road curves.

 

[Upstream]

Drove through the junction yesterday and noticed that the car wash is still called Brunswick Circle Car Wash.
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