Hillsborough Heads To Trenton To Restart Stalled Route 206 Project

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough Township officials will be heading to Trenton to sit down with New Jersey Department of Transportation(NJDOT) officials to discuss their list of concerns revolving around the stalled Route 206 widening project.

Mayor Robert Britting, Jr. provided an update for residents during the Tuesday night Township Committee meeting calling thr project "probably one of the most critical items that is hitting Hillsborough... because we all drive on it and know how unsafe it is and it needs to be fixed."

The Township Attorney previously sent a legal letter to NJDOT with a list of their safety concerns including open catch basins.

Because of this letter, all future letters must go through the Attorney General's Office, said Britting, Jr.

"This has now created another layer of review and longer response time," said Britting Jr. "This however was necessary after not receiving numerous response actions that we deem necessary."

Britting, Jr. then held up a book of all the communication the Township had sent to NJDOT.

The Deputy Attorney General reviewed all of Hillsborough's safety concerns and said that their findings found "no emergent safety concerns at the time," said Britting, Jr.

The Township pointed to the open drainage catch basins that are wide enough for a child to fall into which prompted the meeting in Trenton.

The meeting will be held in February. Britting, Jr. will then update the public on what happened.

The $41 million federally-funded project to widen Route 206 was halted in May 2023 after the NJDOT terminated its contract with Konkus Corporation.

This prompted Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. to visit the halted Route 206 widening project and spoke with impacted business owners on Sept. 15, 2023. Read More: Congressman Kean Visits 'Abandoned' Route 206 Widening Project

Following the visit, Kean sent a letter to NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti urging that the department take all necessary steps to restart construction on the Route 206 Widening Project.

A petition was also created and signed by the Hillsborough businesses that are impacted with hopes of getting NJDOT to restart the project again. Read More: Petition Pushes To Restart Route 206 Widening Project In Hillsborough

NJDOT previously said in September that it is the Surety’s obligation to complete the contract. Read More: NJDOT Addresses Halted Route 206 Project Concerns In Hillsborough

"Unfortunately, the Surety has been unresponsive to the many inquiries of the Department’s counsel since notified of the contractor’s termination," said NJDOT in September. "If the Surety continues to drag its feet on identifying a replacement contractor, the Department, through its counsel, will exhaust every option to restart this contract, and accelerate construction to the extent feasible."

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