According to an article in the New Brunswick-based Sentinel paper earlier this month, an NJDOT project to relieve traffic in the Route 1 corridor has moved to the top of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan, a list of planned transportation projects. But the story focused solely on a possible widening of the roadway, omitting any mention of the land use and transit components suggested when the Route 1 corridor was named a “NJ Future in Transportation” smart growth project. In fact, the Route 1 project page focuses on bus rapid transit and transit-oriented development, and does not even mention a widening.

Has the emphasis of the project shifted within NJDOT, or did the reporter just miss the point?  NJDOT did not return requests for comment, and it appears that state budget cuts may be hurting the department’s ability to articulate its philosophy. The department’s press office no longer has voice mail and when MTR finally got through to a spokesperson, we were told not to expect a quick response because that spokesperson was the only one working. This might explain why the Sentinel article quotes a South Brunswick official and parts of the project’s webpage without input from NJDOT officials.

If plans have changed for the Route 1 corridor, it would represent a serious backslide for the department and its NJFIT program. Route 1 is one of NJ’s major North-South corridors and is in an area that has seen significant growth in the last decade, making it an ideal candidate for corridor planning, not an old-fashioned widening that is likely to induce new traffic.