Urban congratulates NJDOT!

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) was recently awarded the 2009 Best Project Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Transportation Planning Council for its “Route 31 Integrated Land Use and Transportation Plan” (ILUTP).  Urban Engineers, Inc. (Urban) is pleased to have been a part of the Project Team that created the ILUTP.  Leading Urban’s efforts on this project were Scott Diehl and Orla Pease.  On behalf of NJDOT, Mr. Diehl accepted the award at the 2009 Annual ITE meeting.

The Transportation Planning Council recognized the Route 31 project as a great model for developing a transportation master plan for a corridor.  The plan proved very timely with a focus on sustainability in tough economic times.  NJDOT was commended for its choice in adopting a transit agency approach to outreach with other jurisdictions and partnering with a developer. 

The project’s planning process was designed to incorporate a wide range of land use, transportation, and stakeholder issues through an incremental engagement approach.  This process involved numerous stakeholder interviews, land owner meetings, and local municipal coordination efforts.  The result was a plan that reflects and integrates everything from individual local land owner and developer actions, to municipal planning policy, to NJDOT transportation projects. 

Previously, the Route 31 ILUTP was nationally recognized by the Transportation Research Board’s Strategic Highway Research Program as one of 16 Best Practice models across the country for the collaborative approach to merging NJDOT goals with community goals and identifying innovative, cost-effective solutions.