The New Jersey Department of Transportation recently announced plans to widen a 2.6-mile stretch of State Highway Routes 1 & 9, also known as Tonnelle Avenue, in North Bergen, as part of the state’s $15 million state highway reconstruction project.
However, township officials have been in constant negotiations with the state DOT to see if it is possible to make the heavily used roadway even wider, while including a center median barrier and put all existing utilities underground.
“We’re trying to negotiate that right now,” Township Administrator Joseph Auriemma said. “We’re looking into making arrangements with the developers along Tonnelle Avenue to see if they could widen their access roads on their own.”
According to plans from the state DOT, the 2.6-mile stretch set for improvements begins at 43rd Street in North Bergen and continues on into the town of Ridgefield.
“We would be putting down new pavement, improving drainage, doing utility work, installing new curbs and making the lanes substantially wider,” said DOT spokesman John Dougarian.
But the township is hopeful that the developers of proposed commercial areas will aid in the highway improvement.
According to the township plan, the developers would incorporate road improvements as part of the development. The Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, currently under construction and set to open within the coming months, as well as the planned Commons of North Bergen shopping area, just blocks south of the Lowe’s area, will do the necessary improvements to the roadway as part of the development, according to Auriemma.
“We’ve had numerous meetings [about] what way the road is going to be built,” Mayor Nicholas Sacco said. “But we certainly can’t tie up Tonnelle Avenue for an entire year. That would cause a traffic nightmare.”
“We want to be able to widen that side [the southbound end] of the road enough that we can provide enough space for a median,” Auriemma said. “That’s what we’re attempting to do. We’ve already concluded that it can be done, as long as we receive approval from the state DOT. If we can make some sort of an arrangement with the developers, then we think we can get it done with little or no traffic problems.”
Either way, if there is some closure to Tonnelle Avenue for widening and restoration, it could lead to some traffic nightmares along the heavily traveled road. Several motorists, especially a heavy tractor truck volume, use the state highway on a daily basis. It is easily the most populated thoroughfare in North Bergen.
Of course, the project would take years to complete and would not be done all at once. Some semblance of a traffic flow would have to remain on the road.
When completed – and if done with the township’s blessing – the highway should be much safer and easier to travel.
Several accidents occur on Tonnelle Avenue regularly. Five fatalities were reported on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen in 2000.
Auriemma hopes to come to some sort of conclusion with the Tonnelle Avenue improvement plans within the next month.