Woodbridge, Carteret open new highway
Road will help alleviate truck traffic in other parts of town
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer
The mayors from Carteret and Woodbridge last week unveiled the opening of the long-awaited extension of the Industrial Highway that spans both townships.

Carteret Borough and Woodbridge Township approved the 1.4-mile extension as part of the Port Reading Industrial Park Redevelopment project in May 2004.

Mayor John E. McCormac and Carteret Mayor Daniel J. Reiman joined officials from their respective towns to announce the opening of the highway on Dec. 14. The mayors heralded the new roadway as a solution to the excessive truck traffic that has plagued the residential and light commercial areas of Port Reading Avenue in Woodbridge and Roosevelt Avenue in Carteret.

"The opening of the Industrial Highway Extension [IRE] provides a real alternative by removing hundreds of trucks from local streets in Port Reading and Woodbridge," said McCormac, who said the opening of the extension is just part of the township's continued improvements transforming the Port Reading commercial district into a viable economic engine that would benefit the entire region.

The mayors said an estimated 1,200 trucks a day will be diverted from Port Reading and Roosevelt avenues. The extension project is expected to minimize truck traffic along Roosevelt and Port Reading avenues by creating a bypass through the area's Industrial Park district. The extension stretches from its former termination at the municipal boundary in Carteret to the intersection of Port Reading Avenue and East Tappen Street in Port Reading.

"By partnering with the town of Woodbridge and ProLogis in the redevelopment of these once-abandoned brownfield sites [industrial properties that typically suffer from soil or groundwater contamination] and in approving a more efficient thoroughfare for trucking, we have at once addressed an ongoing quality-of-life concern for residents and established the groundwork for additional economic growth," said Reiman.

The extended roadway design includes a 50-foot-wide right of way with one lane in each direction and with center left-turn lanes at all warehouse driveways. The roadway is also fully curbed.

The cost for construction of the IRE is estimated at $15 million and was fully funded by ProLogis as part of their site plan improvements and at no cost to the municipal taxpayers of Carteret and Woodbridge. The Carteret side of the Industrial Highway has been previously dedicated as the Peter J. Sica Memorial Highway, and the Woodbridge side as Industrial Highway. As part of the original approvals and interlocal agreements, the project will become part of the Middlesex County road network and will be turned over to the county Streets and Roads Department in 2008.

The IRE has been in the plans since the 1960s and was considered the next step in the project after the original construction of Industrial Road in Carteret was completed in the mid-1980s.

Beginning in 2003, the Prologis Corp. (formerly Catellus Construction Corp.) expressed interest in developing two large brownfields in Carteret: the former Reichhold Chemical and Starflex sites (formerly of the U.S. Metals Carteret Refinery) comprising 55 acres in Carteret, and the Beazer, PSE&G and Oliver Block site in Port Reading, comprising 235 acres.

"This is most exciting for us," said Marc Petrella, vice president and market officer of ProLogis in New Jersey. "We have developed a good friendly partnership with Carteret and Woodbridge and we look forward to working with them as we move forward."

Both the Woodbridge and Carteret planning boards approved the private development project, known as the Port Reading Business Park. The Carteret side of the project was completed in 2005, and the first building on the Port Reading side, fronting Port Reading Avenue, was completed this November. Eight additional buildings are planned for Woodbridge consisting of 3,156,590 square feet with a total two-town build-out of 3.6 million square feet.

The Industrial Park hosts several large storage and import and export facilities, including Cargo Logistics; White Rose; Bed, Bath & Beyond; and NACA Logistics. The park is also the destination of most of the regional truck traffic that comes through the town to and from the New Jersey Turnpike Interchange 12.

"This project is a prime example of how shared services between municipalities, combined with a working partnership with the corporate community, can achieve fantastic results that truly benefit the residents and businesses of Woodbridge and Carteret," said McCormac.