The project is known as the Route 29 Highway Tunnel. There were many context sensitive factors in this project stemming from the project location that impacted residences in two historic districts and the National Register Riverview Cemetery and extended to the environmentally sensitive Delaware River. Given that residents knew that the approved EIS allowed revisiting of rebuilding Route 29, it was clear from the beginning that community involvement and responsiveness to community interests and concerns would be essential to getting the project built.
Aerial photo of Trenton. Two-lane section of Lamberton Road is in middle of the photo.
Project Description
The project is known as the Route 29 Highway Tunnel and encompasses 2.5 miles of roadway, including a half-mile section of tunnel. The tunnel was constructed as a cut and cover post-tensioned tunnel. The southbound lanes are open to the Delaware River on the west and the northbound lanes are within a fully enclosed tunnel.
The roadway consists of two 12-foot roadway lanes, a 12-foot right shoulder and three-foot left shoulder. The roadways are separated by concrete barrier curb along the south roadway approach to the tunnel. North of the tunnel the roadways are separated by concrete barrier curb to Waterfront Park, where a grassed and planted median strip separates the north- and southbound traffic.
The overall highway tunnel complex includes an off-site Tunnel Control Building, Intelligent Transportation Systems, a pre-stressed concrete bridge and six retaining wall structures. The facility creates a depressed section of highway and takes major traffic volume off city streets. The tunnel itself serves as the platform upon which a city park, South Riverwalk Park, will be constructed. Additional waterfront recreational facilities are being developed and coordinated with the efforts of the NJDOT.
The project cost for the tunnel was $105 million; the park on top of the tunnel costs an additional $10 million. Other ancillary projects will total approximately $40 million with the county and city contributing approximately half of this cost.
Purpose and Need Statement
The project's Purpose and Need Statement was developed for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) approved in 1981 for the entire Trenton Complex of roads. When the Route 29 project was taken up in 1995-96 the project team did an Environmental Reevaluation and did not revisit the Purpose and Need Statement from the previous document.
Context-Sensitive Factors
There were many context sensitive factors in this project stemming from the project location that impacted residences in two historic districts and the National Register Riverview Cemetery and extended to the environmentally sensitive Delaware River. Given that residents knew that the approved EIS allowed revisiting of rebuilding Route 29, it was clear from the beginning that community involvement and responsiveness to community interests and concerns would be essential to get the project built.
The community wanted truck traffic off of Lamberton Road but did not want a large transportation facility to "wall off" the residences from the river. All interested parties seemed to want a scaled down transportation facility that would minimize impacts on the human and natural environment.
While the EIS had been approved in 1981 assuming that Route 29 would be rebuilt to interstate standards (70 mph design speed), the project team adopted design elements that reflected the community's desire for scaling down the roadway design including a 45 mph design speed.
Curves around the Riverview Cemetery and at the railroad bridge were designed to slow traffic. Traffic signals were retained at the request of residents. With the adoption of this design speed, no design exceptions were required.
Where the EIS had proposed impacting 2-1/2 acres of the river, the final design to accommodate the tunnel construction required a 0.67-acre section of river to be filled.
NJDOT's commitment to fund the design and construction of the South Riverwalk Park was initially controversial within the department, but was an important mitigation effort to gain community acceptance of the tunnel design.
History of Project
The Trenton Complex is a system of highways that was first proposed in the late 1950s and commenced construction in the 1980s. The system includes connections between several interstate and state routes to facilitate the movement of people and goods in and around the State Capitol. The entire road complex was designed to function together to provide connections within and around the City, while relieving congestion on local roads.
Further Reading:
Route 29 - Trenton, New Jersey PDF
Aerial photo of Trenton. Two-lane section of Lamberton Road is in middle of the photo.
Aerial photo in Trenton. 2-lane section of Lamberton Road is at top of photo.
Tunnel entrance from north.
North end of tunnel.
View of walkway next to south tunnel entrance. Safety fencing at right of walkway was to match that on other side of road but contractor did not put in footings adequate to support the fencing that was specified.
Route 29 - Trenton, New Jersey PDF
