New Interchange Improves Safety & Mobility

BRIDGEWATER – State, county and municipal officials celebrated the opening of the Route 22/Chimney Rock Road Interchange with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.

The Oct. 6 ceremony was hosted by the Somerset County Board of Freeholders, led by Freeholder Director Mark Caliguire. Other speakers included Bridgewater Council President Howard Norgalis and New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) District Manager Joseph Birchenough.

“Taxpayers entrust us with their hard-earned dollars and we have an obligation to spend it wisely and effectively to improve the quality of life of the people living in this county. If we’re not doing that, we’re not doing our jobs,” said Freeholder Director Caliguire. “I believe the Chimney Rock Road interchange does just that.”

“We had two goals for this project. The first was to improve safety in this heavily traveled area,” said Freeholder Director Caliguire. “The interchange improvement accomplishes that by moving traffic more efficiently and safely along the Route 22 corridor.”

About 70,000 vehicles a day travel the highway. Prior to the interchange, Route 22 had a crash rate of nearly seven times greater than the statewide average for similar roadways.

“The second goal was to enhance mobility for residents,” said Freeholder Director Caliguire. “The interchange opens new transportation options for motorists. People living in the north part of county will now be able to get directly into Bound Brook, Bridgewater and Somerville using Chimney Rock Road. We also expect traffic impacts to lessen in residential neighborhoods now that trucks can use this road to access I-287 and other destinations.”

“The interchange will have the added benefit of providing economic development opportunities along Route 22 and Chimney Rock Road,” he said.

Somerset County was the lead agency for the federally-funded project. The contractor was Anselmi and DeCicco, Inc. of Maplewood.