New Jersey has once again literally paved the way for another lesson in legal terminology. Sua sponte, which means “of one’s own accord,” seems to accurately describe New Jersey Transportation Commissioner James Simpson’s decision to permanently widen the Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension. The NBHCE’s eastbound shoulder, which was originally intended to be a temporary part-time travel lane, will be a permanent additional lane, Simpson announced this week. This de facto widening comes without any public input and without any consideration of the safety or environmental impact of the widening.
Initially, a lane control system was used to convert the road’s shoulder into a third travel lane as part of the Pulaski Skyway construction traffic mitigation plan. By adding a third lane, the state has essentially implemented a 50 percent road widening without any public review or environmental impact statement. It also leaves the NBHCE without a shoulder, a situation that NJDOT raised as a safety concern when advocates called for the shoulder to be used as an HOV/BRT lane as part of the mitigation plan.
Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen: TSTC needs to push for a better solution.
How could they do this without first obtaining the approval of people who hate roads?
Since the Turnpike is also Interstate 78, does this violate federal regulations? Would TSTC be interested in exploring this?
Who’s suing? This is almost certainly illegal under NEPA, and probably under the federal highway regulations (since NJ just caused I-78 to stop complying with federal Interstate standards).