Counties and municipalities often try to prepare for the impacts of industrial development as well as mitigate these impacts once the development is in place.
Ryan Conklin, Assistant Planning Director, Warren County, presented on actions Warren County has taken to manage warehouse development and associated truck traffic during the NJTPA’s Freight Initiatives Committee meeting on February 18.The County’s mostly rural roads are not conducive to significant tractor-trailer traffic. Yet it’s a gateway for trucks coming through Pennsylvania and eastern New Jersey toward New York via Interstate Routes 78 and 80. An analysis in 2021 identified areas along major roads like Routes 517 and 519 where there were hot spots for crashes, Conklin said, adding that about 10 percent of overall crashes were heavy vehicle related.
The County completed a comprehensive master plan that looked at freight movement, and has a Complete Streets study underway as part of the NJTPA’s Subregional Studies Program.Warren’s municipalities have met to provide direct input along with other stakeholders, Conklin said. As a result, the County has requested restrictions to all 500 and 600 series roads in the County, conducted safety audits of Route 519 between Route 57 and 22, and examined traffic calming for Route 519 in Hope, which has been a focal point of cut-through traffic from Interstates 78 and 80. It also started to work on Local Safety Action Plans and County Complete Streets Plan, taking into consideration freight issues associated with these types of developments, Conklin said.
The County’s transportation master plan element examined data collected from previous planning initiatives to help create a truck routing map for the County with a goal of shifting truck traffic to higher level roads and interstate highways in the most efficient manner possible, Conklin said. They also work to come up with wayfinding signage and routing through agreements with developers, which is a useful tool for municipalities to use.
A recording of the meeting is available here.