As the news was broken first here on FAA News, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) began their long-awaited Route 9 intersection widening project in Lakewood and Toms River back in September 2022.
Since that time the heavily traveled corridor has seen quite a number of construction shovels.
Just this past week the left turning lanes from Route 9 northbound onto Central Avenue and from Route 9 southbound onto Hurley Avenue were removed. While this has temporarily caused confusion for drivers, and is forcing northbound traffic to use James Street and Sunset Road to get to Central Avenue, the net gain is a second through lane on Route 9 northbound from Central/Hurley Avenue to Route 88.
DOT's traffic studies (which were completed years ago) determined that the left turning lanes from. Route 9 onto Central and Hurley Ave's were underutilized. DOT also determined that the additional through lane would ultimately alleviate a major brunt of the traffic congestion along the corridor.
The Route 9 project has so far substantively completed the following key improvements:
Hurley Avenue / South Lake Drive / Caranetta Drive - A second through lane was extended on Hurley Avenue for westbound traffic. The existing second eastbound through lane on Central Avenue was extended several hundred feet. The east end of South Lake Drive was modified to ingress only. The east end of Caranetta Drive will be modified to egress only.
Pine/James Street intersection - The end of Pine Street was realigned to flatten the existing curve. James Street was widened to add a left turning lane onto Route 9 northbound. The traffic signal was modified / replaced so all four approaches will have dedicated-turning arrows, and the realignment allows turns in both directions at the same time.
Prospect Street - Route 9 Southbound got a new right turning lane on to Prospect street which was widened to provide more space for wide turning trucks. Additionally, new crosswalks were painted. The traffic signal was modified to include a southbound right-turning signal to permit southbound right-turns while Prospect Street has the green light. This move aims to greatly enhance southbound traffic.
Spruce Street - new left turning lanes from Route 9 north and southbound were added onto Spruce Street.
Hadassah Lane - Route 9 Northbound got a left turning lane on to Hadassah Lane.
Oak Street - Route 9 was widened with northbound and southbound left turning lanes, and a northbound right turning lane. A new traffic signal was installed, with a dedicated phasing for left turns from Route 9 which permits right turns from Oak Street at the same time. Oak Street was also widened to accommodate 2 lanes onto Route 9. Right turns from Oak Street onto Route 9 are permitted during the dedicated left-turning phase from Route 9.
Broadway and Chateau were realigned to meet up. A new traffic light, and left turning lanes in all directions (on Route 9 and on the intersecting streets) were installed. Route 9 also has dedicated left-turning arrows onto Broadway and Chateau.
Finchley/Ford - Route 9 got new left turning lanes onto Finchley and Ford
So what's next for the project?
Major improvements will be implemented at both the northern and southern ends of the project area.
Cross Street / Chestnut Street will be realigned with an additional third lane on both Cross Street and Chestnut Street, to provide for dedicated right turns, left turns, and thru traffic. The realignment will allow for dedicated left turns from both Cross Street and Chestnut Street at the same time, and then a green light phase from both Cross Street and Chestnut Street at the same time. Additionally, dedicated green right-turning arrows will be installed to permit rights turns from both Cross Street and Chestnut Street while Route 9 has dedicated green left-turning arrows. This new traffic pattern is expected to have a great impact of traffic flow at this heavily congested intersection.
Locust street - To alleviate traffic coming off Route 70, a new westbound right turning lane will be added from Locust Street westbound onto Route 9 northbound.
The northern tip of the project is at 2nd Street.
New left turning arrow will be installed on Route 9 southbound at 2nd Street
Turning lane from Route 9 southbound onto Route 88 will be extended through 1st Street in order to keep through-traffic flowing. A 4-foot wide island will be installed across 1st Street to preclude left turns onto 1st Street, and 1st Street will be made into right in, right out only on both sides of Route 9.
Once complete, the project will address existing pavement deficiencies by milling and paving the roadway of Route 9 from 2nd Street in Lakewood to Indian Hill Road in Toms River, and providing an additional High-Performance Thin Overlay, widening the Route 9 mainline at select locations to increase outside shoulder width and to provide a more consistent cross section with bicycle compatibility, existing traffic signals will be brought up to current MUTCD and ADA standards (with bigger, brighter bulbs), widening of 8 currently signalized intersections with addition of turning lanes, signal upgrades with ADA compatibility, addition of two new traffic signals; and addition of two miles of new sidewalks to provide walk-ability and connectivity. Storm water management will be addressed by updating roadway drainage to meet current standards, and 4 new one stormwater basins will be installed in conjunction with updated piping networks. Many gaps of the sidewalks will be filled in with ADA compliant sidewalks. Many current sidewalks will be widened to 5 feet. Many existing curb ramps will be replaced to meet ADA compliance.
The project specifically includes installation of 3 stormwater management basins in Lakewood, north of the Route 70 westbound ramp (across from an existing basin), and on Route 9 northbound, north of Buttell Avenue, and south of Henry Street.
It is currently anticipated that the overall project will be substantively completed by the end of 2026.
In 2015, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority - the federally authorized Metropolitan Planning Organization for the 13-county northern New Jersey region - presented plans for a center left turning lane along this section of Route 9. However, in 2020, DOT officials notified local officials that they decided to withdraw their plans for a project of that scope, explaining that that proposal would have cost $555 million because "Route 9 is surrounded by a mix of residential and commercial properties with many having frontage and parking close to the Right-of-way. The resulting widening would have required extensive land acquisitions etc, resulting in significant costs for which DOT does not have sufficient funding."
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