PHILADELPHIA PA – Regional real estate development is among the business sectors that could benefit from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s recent approval of $1.7 billion in funding over three years for major highway and public transit investments in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties in New Jersey.
The approval was announced in the commission’s July 2013 newsletter.
The commission said projects being funded are contained in the New Jersey portion of its 2014 Transportation Improvement Program. The list includes 130 highway, transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and freight-related projects for fiscal years 2014-2017 worth an average of $437 million per year. Almost $904 million is dedicated for highway system projects, and $843 million for transit projects implemented by NJTransit and the Port Authority Transit Corporation.
Of the highway amount, $251 million is allocated over four years toward the massive and phased “Direct Connect” interchange project that would eliminate dangerous merging and weaving movements on I-295 caused by the vehicles entering from NJ 42 and I-76.
Another $56 million is earmarked for continuing the “Missing Moves” Bellmawr project, in which on-and off-ramps will be built to better connect NJ 42 to I-295. Together, the two projects constitute the second largest highway project in the history of the NJ Department of Transportation.
Other projects in the highway program include bridge rehabilitation or replacement, local county and municipal aid, emergency service patrol, and bicycle and pedestrian streetscape improvements, such as the Gloucester County Multi-Purpose Trail Extension that will link Rowan University, the Glassboro Arts District, and transit facilities.
The transit funding will help start the early phase of NJTransit’s Bus Rapid Transit service from Camden and Gloucester counties to Camden and Philadelphia. This 23-mile line will offer benefits of a light rail system, as well as faster and more efficient service than an ordinary bus line.
Photo from DVRPC