The Long Acres neighborhood is expected to get its long-awaited noise barrier along I-295, possibly as soon as this summer.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has scheduled a public information center on May 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to outline the project. It will be held at the Lawrence Township Municipal Building.
The Long Acres neighborhood is located behind the Lawrence Township Municipal Complex, off West Long Drive.
Attendees at the public information center meeting will have an opportunity to review exhibits of the project, submit questions and leave feedback, NJDOT officials said.
The proposed project calls for building a 2,780-foot-long concrete noise barrier along the shoulder of I-295 South, starting near Rider University’s solar panel field and ending on the east side of the I-295 overpass on Route 206.
The noise barrier would border the rear yards of homes on West Church Road in the Long Acres neighborhood that back up to the highway.
The project aims to reduce noise levels in the Long Acres neighborhood. Peak highway traffic noise levels approach or exceed the recommended threshold for residential noise in the area, NJDOT officials said.
The final design for the project is expected to occur this spring, and construction is expected to start in the summer.
Residents of the Long Acres neighborhood have been pushing for a noise barrier for more than 30 years, and the NJDOT has been promising to build it for almost as many years.
Since the residents began lobbying for a noise barrier in the early 1990’s, the NJDOT repaved a stretch of I-295 with a type of asphalt that reduced the sound of cars and trucks rushing by and that also reduced hydroplaning in wet weather.
However, the asphalt was removed and I-295 was repaved with conventional asphalt that increased road noise from the highway.
Most of the homes in the Long Acres neighborhood were built in the 1960’s and predate the construction of the interstate highway.
Residents claim the noise from I-295, which was built in 1974, interferes with their enjoyment of their homes. The highway was built several feet above grade level – above their houses – and it contributes to the noise level, they said.
Former Gov. Jim Florio included money for construction of the noise barrier in the early 1990’s, but the plans were shelved after he lost his re-election bid.
The issue surfaced again in 1999, when the NJDOT agreed to build a noise barrier if Lawrence Township would contribute toward its cost. Subsequent changes in federal regulations banned towns from contributing money toward projects.
Then-NJDOT Commissioner Jack Lettiere agreed in 2005 to build a noise barrier – a 13-foot-tall wooden wall that would have cost an estimated $2 million – but the plan was put aside again in 2008 when the NJDOT’s priorities shifted to road and bridge projects.
Most recently, state Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer/Hunterdon) arranged for a meeting between NJDOT officials and Lawrence Township officials in 2019 to discuss the noise barrier. State Assemblyman Anthony S. Verrelli (D-Mercer/Hunterdon) told township officials in August 2024 that $2 million had been earmarked for it.
