The $25 million Route 1 Permanent Hard Shoulder Running Project overseen by the New Jersey Department of Transportation improved motorists safety, increased emergency access for first responders, increased capacity and travel reliability, and cut commute times by up to 50 percent. A highly urbanized state arterial with multiple driveways and no access control, New Jersey’s U.S. Route 1 bottlenecked with traffic during peak travel periods for up to two miles, where the highway narrows from three lanes in each direction to two lanes in each direction. That reduction in lanes caused travel delays and safety concerns. After looking at several options to fix these issues, NJDOT landed on a hard shoulder running or HSR strategy. The implementation of HSR on the Route 1 corridor allowed for three travel lanes instead of two via the use of 14 overhead lane-use signals and 4 dynamic message signs at the entrances and exits of the roadway in both directions. The project also installed 28 cameras to monitor those shoulder lanes. Since project completion, average mph speed has increased from 13 mph to 31 mph and commute times have been cut by half, all while allowing for additional capacity.
America's Transportation Awards 