Need an Exit to Foothill Road from I-287 South

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, on week days evening rush hour, traffic backs up from the Somerville Circle all the way to the Exit 17 on I-287 South. People spend one hour to cover the distance from the exit 17 to the Somerville Circle every day.

The NJDOT did a cheap work in 1993 when the built the Somerville Circle overpass. They should have had a left lane on the overpass for Route 206 South, which now goes through the Circle. Well, adding that left lane now seems next to impossible.

What the NJDOT can do now to tackle this problem is to build a new exit on I-287 South a couple of miles south at the Foothill Road in Bridgewater.

Daily traffic nightmare at the Somerville Circle.

Two weeks ago, me and my brother picked up our sister from the Newark airport. While coming back, he said he preferred Route 22 because it was as fast as I-78 while being shorter. I didn't believe him then at all.

Today, I dropped off my sister at the airport. While coming back, I realized that my brother was right. Route I-78 West was ok. But as soon as I arrived on I-287 South, I hit the traffic. At first, it was a slow down. A quarter mile later, it was stand still. Soon I figured out it was Route 206 South that was causing the back up on I-287 South. It was probably the Somerville Circle that caused the back up all the way to the I-287/I-78 intersection.

After waiting about 15 minutes, I took the right lane on I-287 to go on towards Bound Brook so I could get off on Route 28. I drove only half a mile before I got stuck again. Another 15 minutes were gone before I reached the exit.

All the while, I was wondering what do the NJDOT do to keep themselves busy. They do not seem to be doing anything these days. Whenever they design something, they come up with something really cheap that does not resolve issues.

I was also wondering why on earth the townships around the Somerville Circle accepted the overpass design. If it is backing up traffic all they way to I-78, then there is something terribly wrong with the design. And are they aware of the problem? If so, what are they doing to resolve this?

I really admire the New Brunswick township administration for rejecting a few years ago a cheap U.S. 1/U.S. 130 intersection design offered by NJDOT and making the NJDOT come up with something better.