$1M Traffic Safety Grant Awarded To Study Easton Avenue In Franklin

Press release from the Somerset County Government:

03/18/2022 2:33 PM

SOMERVILLE, NJ – Somerset County has been awarded a $1 million grant of federal funds from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) for a traffic safety study of Easton Avenue in Franklin Township. The NJTPA Board of Trustees approved the traffic safety grant at its March meeting on March 14.

“Easton Avenue has the highest number of vehicle accidents among Somerset County roads,” said Somerset County Commissioner Sara Sooy, who represents the county on the NJTPA Board of Trustees. “This study is an important first step in improving road safety in the area for our residents and visitors.”

Funding for the study is provided through the Local Concept Development Phase of the NJTPA's Local Capital Project Delivery Program for Fiscal Year 2023. The project is anticipated to kick off in September 2022. The NJTPA Board approved a combined $3.8 million for four studies at its March 14 meeting.

This project includes Easton Avenue (County Route 527) from Worlds Fair Drive in Franklin Township to the New Brunswick border. From 2014 to 2016 there were 270 crashes on this stretch of road. The road has two travel lanes in each direction with a two-foot shoulder through most of the project area, with a major corporate and warehouse district at the northern end of the project area and a mix of businesses and homes throughout the study area.

This study will look at places where motorists may be making turns at high speeds, areas with high traffic volume, and narrow segments of the road to develop recommendations for potential safety improvements.

Local Concept Development is the first phase of the Local Capital Project Delivery Program, which guides projects from initial concepts all the way to construction. During the initial phase, the County will identify and compare reasonable alternatives and strategies and select a preferred alternative to advance to the next phase, Preliminary Engineering. Projects that complete this initial investigative work may be eligible for eventual construction with federal funds. More information on the program can be found at www.njtpa.org.

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This press release was produced by the Somerset County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.