Extremely frustrating and outrageously expensive road work in NJ

If you travel around Montclair on Route 46 or through Cherry Hill on Route 70 you may wonder how long this endless construction is going to take.

In the case of the 8.8 miles of Route 70, the answer is five more years.

FIVE MORE YEARS!

It started late last summer, and some motorists were hoping it would be wrapped up by now.

Nope!

The projected completion date is sometime in 2027.

Many of us thought that the two-lane road would be widened to accommodate the 50,000 cars that drive over the road each day.

Nope!

Much of the project is to replace gas and water lines below and along the road surface.

The road will not be wider, but there will be sidewalks and the traffic lights will be updated with state-of-the-art technology.

So be patient and expect the same congestion on the road when the job is completed in 2027 at a cost of $151 million, which could go up perhaps with inflation and all.

So, it's not all roadwork.

It has much to do with the utility lines.

But how much does it cost to pave a mile of road in New Jersey?

Would you be surprised to know that it costs way more than any other state per mile to pave a road?

It costs $200,211 per mile in New Jersey compared to say New Hampshire where it costs $20,879.

How do states like Virginia do it for $8,585? They're not even the most affordable state.

The national average is less than one-sixth of what it costs here in New Jersey $36,473.

So as you drive past all those cones with very little going on around them, just know for the price we pay, it will be done right!

If you've traveled around Montclair University and wondered when that work will be done, one recent graduate from that school said:

"It was there when I was a freshman and it's still going on."

Here's a cool video of what it looks like from the sky.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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