How do you see yourself getting around in the future? Would you consider driving an electric vehicle or riding in a self-driving car or shuttle? Are there regional transportation projects that you want prioritized for funding?
These are some of the questions the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) will be asking the public as it drafts its next long range transportation plan, Connecting Communities. The plan will detail new programs and recommend policies and transportation investments for the next 25 years.
The NJTPA region includes 13 counties, including Ocean, in northern and central New Jersey and is home to 7 million people, with the population expected to hit 7.8 million in 2050.
Ocean County has more than 618 County road miles and more than 250 County bridges and culverts.
The NJTPA has approved funding for a number of projects in Ocean County, including a study underway in Lakewood to explore ways to mitigate congestion on Kennedy Boulevard (County Route 6) and County Line Road (County Route 526).
The NJTPA also funded a study that explored options for replacing or rehabilitating the Chadwick Beach Island Bridge over Barnegat Bay in Toms River Township. That study
recommended a bridge replacement, and the NJTPA is providing federal funding for design, right-of-way acquisition and construction of a new bridge.
The NJTPA works with local partners and state agencies to approve more than $3 billion in transportation investments annually. In order for the region to be eligible to receive federal transportation funds for programs and projects, the NJTPA must adopt a long-range transportation plan every four years.
“Connecting Communities will help us set a vision for the future of our region’s transportation network and prioritize regionally significant projects,” said NJTPA Chair John Kelly, an Ocean County Commissioner. “It’s important that our region’s residents share their thoughts and ideas with us so that this plan meets the needs of the communities and people we serve.”
Public input plays a critical role in the plan. The feedback the NJTPA gathers through an online survey and events will be considered and incorporated into the plan, which the NJTPA Board of Trustees is expected to adopt in September. Everyone who lives in the NJTPA region is encouraged to participate.
Virtual public outreach will begin later this month with a Let’s Talk Transportation event on January 28 at 11:30 a.m. focused on creating a safe biking and walking transportation network.
The NJTPA will also be conducting pop-up outreach at events throughout the region this spring. To share your ideas, interests, and concerns about the future of transportation in northern and central New Jersey, please take the NJTPA’s brief survey and sign up for virtual events at the Connecting Communities website: njtpa.org/connecting.
We need an underground Lakewood Subway!!! 😉
With hyperloop connections to New York, Philadelphia, Odessa, and Tel Aviv.
what do we have to do with north jersey? traffic will never improve if our elected officials don’t give a hoot about it, and keep on allowing irresponsible development to continue in areas where the roads have been stressed from the burden of daily traffic 10 years ago already. Yungerleit came out to protest the oak and vine development 10 years ago, and askunim told us, it won’t be a issue as rt 9 is about to be widened, what a scam and sheker! they also told us Lakewood families needed where to live, turned out it was a massive project to make a chasidisha kehilah for out of state families, if we can’t deal with honesty, we will always have issues, its a shandah!