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Achievements and Findings


Highlights of the Forum's Achievements


East-West Access

  • Accomplishing practical tasks that help the region and municipalities - For one existing east-west corridor at a time, this task develops a package of relatively small multimodal improvements coordinated with land use planning. This helps municipalities realize their goals, increases coordination between neighboring municipalities, and recognizes the corridor's role in east-west access. The CR 571 working group's efforts improved a dangerous intersection, led to a corridor study, and generated discussions about transit that will result in service improvements. The CR 518 working group requested and was provided vehicle classification counts by NJDOT to improve understanding of truck movements. The group discussed ways to calm traffic and to improve operations, especially for roads that flood regularly. The next east-west corridor will likely be one that can help move people to the Route 1 BRT. The Forum has also worked with a database of small problems. The idea is that by recommending and encouraging along a few small improvements to east-west access each year, transportation will be improved over time.
  • Strengthening local planning - Local best practices and information on each municipality's circulation element were highlighted in a working paper to facilitate communication. Uniform maps summarizing the circulation elements of ten municipalities were prepared and added to the updated online Forum Atlas, with more coming.
  • Providing analysis- Modeling information for the SR 92, Penns Neck Improvements, and network of BRT projects was provided.

Transit

  • The Route 1 BRT concept is alive and well with significant thanks to the Forum - The Forum encouraged the original concept into a study, participated in the study process, and endorsed the NJ Transit Alternatives Analysis Study (available at the Forum section of www.dvrpc.org under US 1 BRT). The Forum is currently helping NJ Transit advance near-term implementation steps, especially transportation and land use actions municipalities and others can undertake to help make the BRT successful. The Forum's support made it easier for elements of the BRT to enter the TIP. The BRT is recommended in DVRPC's Small Starts Feasibility Report. The Forum investigated innovative funding options.

Land Use

  • Increasing knowledge of current land development and transportation projects - The Planned Projects Status Report that comes out every other meeting covers news about projects which might otherwise be hard to compile across county and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) lines. The report also interprets what all the projects mean in terms of making progress toward the Forum's goals.
  • Supporting legislation - The Forum helped pass Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) legislation and has made various recommendations to the Governor and other decision-makers.

System-wide Planning

  • Keeping various Route 1 planning efforts coordinated and advancing - The Forum has been supportive throughout the NJDOT Route 1 Regional Growth Strategy and has steadily facilitated communication between people involved in various Route 1 area projects and the rest of the Forum. This level of planning and communication will help achieve the next generation of major transportation projects and key land use changes for smart growth.